A new joint venture targeting India’s PV-diesel hybrid market has been established between a US independent power producer and an Italian engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm.
Astonfield Renewables, which has 270MW of projects under development in India, and EPC Solesa will market a PV bolt-on that can be integrated with existing diesel generators to create a hybrid system.
The new company, operating under the name Astonfield Solesa Solar, claims to have contracts in place for systems ranging from 100kW to 10MW during the next three months. Its first 100kW ground-mount system for an iron manufacturer in Tamil Nadu. The company will also operate in East Africa with industrial rooftop projects already underway.
There is an estimated 30GW of diesel generator capacity in India. Navigant Research estimates that the industrial rooftop in market could reach 27GW.
“We are well positioned to take advantage of this market opportunity and become leaders in India and Eastern Africa,” said Ameet Shah, co-chairman, Astonfield Renewables. “With our strong international project finance and procurement experience and Solesa’s long track record designing and engineering projects for commercial and industrial customers worldwide, we have an unbeatable combination of local and international expertise across the project spectrum, from design and finance to EPC and operations,” he claimed.
