Indian independent power producer Azure Power has refinanced a 600MW PV project in India, the company’s largest to date.
The 600MW interstate transmission system-connected, located in Bikaner, Rajasthan, was allocated by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and commissioned in December 2021.
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Azure Power has now refinanced its existing project finance facility, securing INR23.5 billion (US$313 million) of funding at an interest rate of 7.2% per annum, which is fixed for 42 months.
Pawan Kumar Agrawal, chief financial officer at Azure Power, said: “Refinancing the original term loan was one of our highest priorities, even before the project was fully commissioned in December 2021. The facility will result in substantial savings in interest cost and will improve the project IRR significantly.”
The power generated from the project will be supplied to SECI at a tariff of INR2.53/kWh (US$3.5c/kWh) for 25 years.
In April last year, Azure sold its rooftop solar business to Radiance Renewables in a deal worth US$73.5 million, which it said would allow to refocus its efforts on more profitable areas, specifically utility-scale project development.
Earlier this week, Azure Power signed a deal with O&M company Ecoppia for the provision of robot cleaning solutions for a 400MW hybrid PV project.