Singaporean renewable energy developer Blueleaf Energy has reached financial close for a 200MW solar-plus-wind hybrid project, under development in Madhya Pradesh, India.
Blueleaf has secured around US$170 million in financing from Indian bank Axis Bank to support development of the Pachora Hybrid Power Project. While the company has not specified how much of the project’s capacity will be accounted for by solar panels versus wind turbines, it has noted that it plans to build, own and operate the project.
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The developer expects to commence commercial operation at the project in 2025, as it looks to install over 5GW of renewable energy capacity in India by 2030.
“By co-locating solar and wind power generation facilities, our Pachora Hybrid Power Project generates renewable energy through the day and night, optimises power system efficiency, and reduces the need for grid expansion,” said Blueleaf CEO Raghuram Natarajan. “As a result, our project reduces carbon emissions and lowers the levelised cost of energy (LCOE), providing a cost-effective model for decarbonising the Indian grid.”
Blueleaf’s head of India, Pratyush Thakur, also noted that the project’s off-take arrangements had been structured “innovatively”, with International Renewable Energy Credits (I-RECs) to be delivered to a “large international tech company”, while electricity generated at the project will be supplied to a “leading Indian power trader” under a power purchase agreement (PPA).
This arrangement is the latest sophisticated approach to project off-taking; last year, partners at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright wrote for PV Tech Premium that such innovation has led to “many recent technological improvements, falling costs and growing investor interest” in the offtake space.
The partners also noted that there is growing interest in the hybrid power project space, as different electricity-generating technologies can be used in tandem to minimise the risks associated with each individual technology, and this approach has been seen elsewhere, such as an EDP Renewables hybrid project in Portugal.
The news follows Blueleaf’s announcement of ambitious plans for the floating solar sector, which include an initiative to build 1.3GW of floating solar capacity in the Philippines alongside local engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm SunAsia Energy.
