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Telangana Solar Power

Hareon Solar To Co-develop 118 Megawatt Solar Project In India

written by saurabh

Chinese solar modules manufacturer Hareon Solar is looking to expand its footprint in one of the fastest growing solar power markets in the world.

Hareon Solar has entered yet another investment deal with one of the largest independent power producers in the solar power sector in India. The Singapore-based investment unit of Hareon Solar has signed an agreement with Azure Power to develop 118 megawatt solar power project in the state of Telangana.

Hareon Solar will also supply solar panels for the project in another deal worth no more than $40 million. The investment arm of the modules manufacturer will pick up 45% stake in the project at $11.1 million.

The investment by Hareon Solar seems sound as the project was secured by Azure Power through a competitive auction organised by India’s largest power producer NTPC Limited. Power generated from the project will be sold to NTPC through a 25-year power purchase agreement, thus securing long-term revenue stream.

Last year, Hareon Solar and ReNew Power Ventures commissioned a 72 megawatt solar power project in Andhra Pradesh. ReNew Power Ventures had secured the project in auction at a tariff of ₹5.98/kWh (9.0¢/kWh). Hareon Solar had supplied solar panels and also acquired equity stake in the project.

April 30, 2017 0 comment

First Solar Likely To Sell 200 Megawatt Capacity In India

written by saurabh

World’s largest thin-film solar power panel manufacturer First Solar is expected to sell 200 megawatts capacity in India as it looks to return focus back to its core business.

According to media reports, First Solar could sell 200 megawatts capacity in India at a value of $200 million. The company has 260 megawatts spread across the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. These projects were awarded to the company in reverse auctions.

First Solar has supplied over 17 gigawatts of solar panels globally, including 1 gigawatts in India. The company is among the largest suppliers of solar panels to Indian developers.

In early 2015, First Solar made a commitment to set up 5 GW of solar power capacity in India over a period of 5 years. In 2014, the company announced plans to install a 45 MW solar power project in the southern Indian state of Telangana. The project entered long-term agreement for the sale of electricity at a tariff of Rs 6.49/kWh (9.9¢/kWh).

First Solar has not actively participated in recent solar power auctions in India which have been extremely competitive. Perhaps this is the reason the company is looking to stay clear of this non-core business. With tariff falling to record-low of Rs 3.30/kWh, the projects offered by First Solar will be highly attractive to project developers.

This will be the third major acquisition in the Indian solar power market in recent times. Tata Power Renewable Energy acquired 1,100 megawatts capacity from Welspun Energy. Greenko Energy Holdings acquired assets from SunEdison India.

March 21, 2017 0 comment

BELECTRIC Wins 104 MW Solar Power Order In India

written by saurabh

Solar power developer BELECTRIC has won a major contract to set up several utility-scale solar power projects.

Engineering, procurement and construction contractor BELECTRIC recently announced that it secured a contract to set up 104 MW solar power capacity in the southern Indian state of Telangana. The projects are owned by a consortium of Spain-based Solarpack and US-based Think Energy Partners.

BELECTRIC will set up six solar power projects, however, these projects do not seem to have been secured through competitive auction rather through direct negotiations with the state government. Power generated from these projects will be sold to local utilities under long-term agreements.

All projects are expected to be commissioned by Q1 2017 and will generate more than 160 million kWh electricity every year offsetting around 80,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, BELECTRIC claimed.

Telangana has a large number of solar power projects under construction as part of the ultra mega solar power projects scheme launched by the Indian government. Additionally, the state government also launched the largest-ever solar power tender in India last year when it allocated 2 GW capacity.

September 28, 2016 0 comment

First Solar Commissions 130 MW Capacity In India

written by saurabh

US-based solar module manufacturer First Solar has announced commissioning of two solar projects totalling 130 MW in the southern states of India through its Indian subsidiary, First Solar Power India Pvt. Ltd.

The company declared commercial operations of 80 MW solar PV project in the state of Andhra Pradesh and 50 MW solar PV project in the state of Telangana. With these projects the cumulative operational capacity owned by First Solar in India has increased to 150 MW.

The projects comprises of 1.4 million First Solar modules and are together expected to generate enough electricity to power approximately 227,500 local households annually and would offset 204,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions each year.

Power generated from these projects will be purchased by the local utilities Southern Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company under 25 year long-term power purchase agreements.

“After achieving a recent milestone of 1 GW of PV solar capacity footprint in India, we are delighted to add 130 MW of utility-scale solar power to the grid, growing our portfolio of operational solar assets to a cumulative capacity of 150 MW,” commented First Solar’s Country Head for India Sujoy Ghosh.

First Solar has been active in the India market since before the inception of the National Solar Mission. Earlier this year, the company had announced that its cumulative solar power module shipment to India has crossed 1 GW and it has become the first thin-film solar panel manufacturer to achieve this feat.

August 24, 2016 0 comment

Sungrow To Supply 150 MW Solar Inverters To Mytrah Energy

written by saurabh

One of India’s rapidly growing renewable IPPs – Mytrah Energy – has placed a major order for inverters to be installed at solar power projects.

According a press release, Sungrow will supply inverters for 150 MW solar power capacity to Mytrah Energy. The inverters shall be installed at solar power projects coming up in the states of Telangana and Punjab.

Mytrah Energy started off as a wind energy project developer but like several other competitors it, too, ventured into solar power market. The company secured a total capacity of 377 MW in Telangana and Punjab solar power auctions. It also won rights to develop 45 MW capacity in Karnataka.

The company recently took steps to initiate work on solar power projects. It announced plans to raise approximately $185 million through equity finance for solar power projects. The company was looking to secure enough funds to achieve financial closure for 380 MW worth of solar power projects over the next 6 to 8 months.

Mytrah Energy is backed by some of the leading funds globally — Goldman Sachs, Apollo Funds, and Merrill Lynch International are all among the groups that have invested in the company. Mytrah Energy Limited was listed on the AIM segment of the London Stock Exchange in 2010 raising $80 million from institutional investors such as Capital Group, BlackRock, and Henderson. Since then, the company has raised about $570 million in debt to fund wind energy projects.

August 21, 2016 0 comment

CLP India Enters Solar Power Market Through Joint Venture With Suzlon Energy

written by saurabh

CLP India, after long presence in the conventional power market, has finally entered the most rapidly growing renewable energy market in India.

Suzlon Energy, one of the leading renewable energy companies in India, recently confirmed sale of 49% stake in a 100 MW solar power project to CLP India. The project is located in the southern state of Telangana and was secured by a special purpose vehicle of Suzlon Energy – SE Solar – through competitive bidding.

Suzlon Energy is likely to construct, commission, operate and maintain the power project. CLP India will have the option to fully buyout Suzlon’s stake after 1 year of project commissioning.

Suzlon Energy emerged as one of the largest successful bidder in what was India’s single largest solar power tender. State authorities in the southern Indian state of Telangana announced results of the 2 GW solar power tender in August last year, wherein Suzlon Energy secured 210 MW capacity in the competitive auction.

Apart from the 100 MW project, Suzlon Energy will also set up a project of 50 MW and 4 projects of 15 MW capacity each.

Power generated from the 100 MW project will be sold through a 25-year power purchase agreement to Telangana Southern Power Distribution Company Limited at a tariff of Rs 5.59/kWh (US¢8.4/kWh).

CLP India owns almost 2 GW of thermal power projects in India and an additional 1 GW wind energy capacity. The company has also signed an agreement with the state government of Haryana to set up 132 MW solar power project one of its thermal power projects.

Photo courtesy of vectoropenstock.com for CleanTechies

June 27, 2016 0 comment

Indian Solar Power Bids Stabilise At US$7/kWh In Absence Of Foreign Competition

written by saurabh

In the absence of international project developers who had driven solar power bids to historic lows in India, fresh bids seem to have stabilised at around US$7/MWh.

In one of the recent solar power auctions in India the competition among bidders remained very high but the lowest tariff was in-line with those seen in other auctions where foreign developers had failed to make the cut.

A total of 350 MW solar power capacity was auctioned in the southern Indian state of Telangana. The winning bids were Rs 4.66/kWh and Rs 4.67/ kWh (US¢7.00/kWh). Five developers managed to secure 350 MW capacity within this tight bidding range.

ReNew Power Ventures and Azure Power won 100 MW capacity each while Karvy Consultants Adani Enterprises and ACME Solar won 50 MW capacity each. All these developers, except Karvy Consultants, are some of the most active project developers in the Indian solar power market. Karvy Consultants is one of the India’s largest integrated financial services provider.

Again, no foreign developers could secure any project. It was not immediately clear which foreign developers participated. Last year, the likes of SunEdison, SkyPower Global, SBG Cleantech and Fortum Group had driven the solar power tariffs to record-low levels of Rs 4.34/kWh (US¢6.5/kWh).

Following the bankruptcy protection filing by SunEdison the participation by foreign project developers has gone down sharply. And in their absence Indian developers have managed to win many projects at comparatively higher tariffs.

While the recent bids of around Rs 4.70/kWh (US¢7.1/kWh) are at a premium of around 8% to the lowest bid ever in India they are at a discount of 19% to the benchmark tariff set by the Indian regulatory body for the current financial year.

May 7, 2016 1 comment

SkyPower Selects Sterling and Wilson To Construct 350 MW India Solar Projects

written by saurabh

Just days after some media outlets had reported that SkyPower Global may be looking to sell equity stake in its under-development solar power projects in India, the company has taken a major step towards the implementation of these projects.

Canada-based renewable energy projects developer SkyPower Global has selected Sterling and Wilson as the EPC contractor for 350 MW solar power projects in India.

SkyPower Global had secured 200 MW solar power capacity through competitive auctions in the state of Telangana and another 150 MW in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Sterling and Wilson shall execute this capacity in 7 projects of 50 MW capacity each.

Progress by SkyPower on some of the largest solar power projects in India is a massive boost for the image of the country’s solar power market. A number of analysts continue to feel that solar PV bids have fallen too low, too fast making the projects financially unviable.

Poor financial condition of SunEdison which has 1.7 GW under-development solar power capacity in the country only strengthened this argument. But SkyPower completed the regulatory requirements associate with these projects and has now taken another major step towards the final commissioning of the projects.

Construction of the projects is expected to begin in the third or fourth quarter of this year; following which commissioning can be expected in around a year.

May 3, 2016 0 comment

SkyPower May Sell Equity Stake In India Solar Power Projects

written by saurabh

After SunEdison, now another global renewable energy behemoth SkyPower is looking to sell equity stake in the solar power projects it had recently secured in some of the fiercest competitive auctions in India.

Subsidiary of SkyPower Global that secured 150 MW projects in the Madhya Pradesh solar power auction last year is now reportedly looking to sell equity stake in the projects. A report by Indian business daily Economic Times stated that the company may completely exit the Indian market by selling the entire equity stake in the projects.

Kerry Adler, President and CEO – SkyPower Global subsequently cleared the air on this report stating that while the company is indeed ‘looking for partners’ to execute the solar power parks India remains a ‘core market’ for the company.

The company had secured these projects with tariffs bids of just over Rs 5.00/kWh which are still among the lowest tariffs in the India.

SkyPower had also secured 200 MW solar power capacity at similar tariffs in the state of Telangana. Interestingly, the company has deposited bank guarantees and signed power purchase agreements for projects in both the states. The company had announced that construction on Madhya Pradesh projects shall start this year.

Recently, Indian media outlets had quoted SunEdison officials stating that the company is looking to sell up to 49% stake in a 500 MW solar power project that it had secured in an NTPC-backed auction last year. The project would be the largest in India to be developed by a single company.

April 17, 2016 0 comment