On the heels of awarding a $16 million loan to Azure Power for a solar photovoltaic project in India, the Export-Import Bank of the United States said it is providing a $9.2 million long-term loan to support exports of Colorado-based Abound Solar's CdTe thin-film PV modules to Punj Lloyd Solar Power for a 5MW power plant in Rahjasthan.
In the Punj Lloyd transaction, Abound's panels will be used in the construction of a 5MW project located on a 62.5-acre site near the village of Bap, about 145km from the city of Jodhpur in the state of Rajasthan. The project is one of the first to be developed under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, which aims to develop more than 20,000MW of installed solar power by 2022.
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The timeline for design, construction, and activation of the power plant was not disclosed.
The repayment of Ex-Im's 18-year loan is based on the cash flows generated by the sale of electricity to NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam, the wholly owned power trading subsidiary of India's National Thermal Power Corp and the agency responsible for the purchase and sale of solar power under the first phase of the National Solar Mission. The Indian government has provided special power price incentives through NVVN.
“India has set ambitious goals to increase solar-energy production and is creating incentives to encourage solar companies to develop this market. Ex-Im Bank is pleased to partner with Punj Lloyd to enable a robust solar-power sector in India. We are working with U.S. exporters make sure that they have the competitive financing they need to participate in these important initiatives,” said Ex-Im Bank chairman/president, Fred Hochberg.
Atul Punj, chairman of the Punj Lloyd Group said, “We are extremely proud to have U.S. Ex-Im Bank's support to achieve the financial closure for our project. This sets the foundation towards our goal of being a leading developer and an engineering, procurement and construction player within the solar utility-scale sector in India.”
“The ability to finance solar photovoltaic projects is as important as the quality of the components used. Abound Solar is excited to have the support of Ex-Im Bank to expand the export of our U.S.-manufactured solar modules to customers in India and elsewhere around the world,” said Russell Kanjorski, Abound's VP of Marketing.
