Major PVEP, SunEdison is working with India's Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) and the Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam state agency to provide six remote Indian villages with PV micro-grids that will also have battery storage.
SunEdison said it would build and operate the systems for five years then transfer the facilities to a public organisation. The projects include 159kW of PV with battery storage, bringing electricity to a total of 4,875 people.
“Solar is often the most practical solution in India's remote areas and building micro-grids allows for scalability as the need grows,” said Pashupathy Gopalan, president of SunEdison Asia Pacific, Middle East and South Africa. “The project isn't just about economics, as part of our SunEdison Eradication of Darkness (SEED) initiative we take into account the long term social and environmental impact as well. We believe that a collaborative approach, where private enterprise works closely with the government sector, is a winning model for future solar development in the region.”
The construction of the micro-grids is expected to start in September 2014 and commissioned by December.