Tender winners secure financing for 340 MW of solar projects in India

Sep 13, 2012 - Of all the 28 companies that won 350 MW of solar power projects under the second round of India's National Solar Mission, 27 have reached financial closure, The Hindu Business Line said Wednesday.

The only company that failed to secure funds for its 10-MW solar project in the state of Tamil Nadu was Sujana Towers. No explanation has been given, the newspaper said, quoting the nodal agency for the initiative -- NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN) -- which is a unit of Indian energy group NTPC Ltd (BOM:532555).

The projects that have secured financing will boost India's solar power capacity by 340 MW. Total investment is estimated at INR 30 billion (USD 541m/EUR 419m).

All 28 companies came out as successful bidders in a government tender in December. The winners were the ones that offered the lowest prices at which they are willing to sell the solar parks' output. The lowest offer was made by French-owned firm Solaire Direct for INR 7.49 (USD 0.14/EUR 0.11) per kWh.

In the first phase tender under India's National Solar Mission, the government struck power purchase agreements for 610 MW of projects. The mission's goal is to bring India's installed solar power capacity to 22,000 GW by the end of the decade. At present, all existing installations amount to a bit over 1,000 MW.

(INR 100 = USD 1.804/EUR 1.397)

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