Indian officials allayed any fears about the impact of a potential exit of SunEdison from the Indian solar power market.
With speculations rife about SunEdison selling some or all of its assets in India, government officials have clarified that they are prepared to offer such projects for tendering process again. Bidding rules for most solar power auctions in India allow governments and regulators to re-tender the projects if the original developer fails to implement the projects.
Officials have also clarified that other project developers may buyout projects from SunEdison and then go ahead with their implementation.
According to recent media reports, SunEdison may be planning to offload its 1,490 MW assets in India. reportedly has 410 MW of operational solar power capacity India while an additional 1,000 MW capacity is at various stages of development. The company also owns 80 MW of wind energy capacity, which was acquired from another foreign developer.
The 1,000 MW under-development capacity also includes the 500 MW project SunEdison won in the Andhra Pradesh auction. The project is among the cheapest projects in India, in terms of tariff. Media outlets had earlier reported that the company is looking to sell up to 49% equity stake in the project.
Few months back the company sold 425 MW capacity to its yieldco TerraForm Global for $231 million to retire some debt from the balance sheet.
Media outlets also reported that negotiations with Macquaire Capital had fallen through and now two Indian companies – Tata Power and Adani Power – are looking to buyout SunEdison’s projects.
