Azure Power and SunEdison will develop a 15MW solar photovoltaic power plant in Gujarat, India. The investment, for which Azure will stump up US$40 million, is being led by Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC), an agency of the U.S. government, while World Bank arm IFC, and venture capital firms Helion Advisors and Foundation Capital are among others expected to get involved.
Azure Power has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Gujarat for the project, which is expected to be commissioned by the middle of next year.
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Inderpreet Wadhwa, CEO of Azure Power, said that the company plans to build up a capacity of 100MW by 2013, which will require an investment US$300-$400 million. India’s first private solar power plant in Awan, at 5MW, was brought into operation by Azure Power in December 2009.
“The potential for solar energy in India is huge and the Azure Power project is a good example of US-India collaboration for the development of the solar energy sector. I am excited to see job creation in both India and the US through US investment and technology exports for the Azure Power project,” said Suresh Kumar, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
“We are encouraging development of solar power in Gujarat and we expect to make Gujarat the hub of solar power development in India. We have set up a target of 1000MW established solar power generation capacity by the end of 2012 and 3000MW in next five years,” said DJ Pandian, Gujarat principal secretary for energy and petrochemicals.
