French energy firm TotalEnergies buys a 50-percent stake in a big US renewables producer, as it seeks to expand its portfolio in the sector in the United States

The French giant has agreed to buy 50 percent of Clearway Energy Group from the fund Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), it said in a statement.

The move -- announced a few hours ahead of its annual general meeting -- "constitutes its largest acquisition in the renewable energy in the United States, one of the top three renewable markets in the world", TotalEnergies said.

Under the deal, GIP will be paid $1.6 billion (about 1.5 billion euros) in cash.

It also receives a stake in a TotalEnergies subsidiary that owns just over half of US solar panel producer, SunPower.

The French firm added "Energies" to its name last year to underscore its move to diversify beyond oil, pledging to step up its renewables activity.

Shareholders later in the day will vote on the group's climate strategy, which has been criticised by environmental campaigners and certain shareholders as too dependent on fossil fuels and not investing enough in renewables.

A group of shareholders representing 0.8 percent of the firm's capital had put forward a resolution demanding the energy giant conform to the Paris climate accord.

However, the resolution was not included on the agenda of the annual meeting.

In acquiring Clearway Energy, TotalEnergies' renewable portfolio in the US is more than 25 gigawatts, it said.

It aims to have a capacity of 100 gigawatts by 2030.