SunEdison wins projects in India
SunEdison (SUNE) is on a roll these days winning large contracts to build and develop solar farms outside its core USA market. The company has been signing huge deals to build farms in states such as Karnataka and Rajasthan in India. SunEdison has a strong presence across all parts of the solar supply chain, especially in solar farm construction and development. The company has recently signed a MOU to develop 5000 MW of solar farms in India’s desert state of Rajasthan. The company officials signed the MOU with the Rajasthan CM who is part of the ruling party in the center. The state has recently come out with a solar policy and plans to develop solar energy in a big way. The company also won 150 MW of the 500 MW up for auction in the southern state of Karnataka.
SunEdison was one of the first movers in India when the country opened up to solar energy. It has been present in most of the central and state reverse auctions. It has played a role not only as a solar developer, but also as a solar EPC player. SunEdison has also signed a deal to build a large integrated solar manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia besides signing a deal to build plants in China as well.
Brazil which has been somewhat of a laggard in solar energy despite having high electricity tariffs and great solar resources, is now starting to build solar capacity as well. In a recent auction for solar energy capacity, SunEdison will supply its modules worth 106 MW to the solar developer who is going to build a plant in Brazil. The SunEdison modules will be compliant with Brazils’s Domestic Content requirements.
Google+American solar companies, SunEdison and Azure Power, and India’s Welspun have bagged big solar projects in the 500 MW Karnataka tender. SunEdison has won the highest: 150 MW – for separate projects, quoting between ?6.83 and ?6.97 a kWhr. Azure Power has bagged 140 MW, quoting between ?6.89 and ?6.96 a kWhr.
Confirming this, Azure Power’s CEO, Inderpreet Wadhwa, told Business Line that with these projects, and with another 50 MW project it won recently in Andhra Pradesh, the company’s solar portfolio has crossed the 500 MW-mark in India. This includes a 100 MW project it won under the National Solar Mission’s auctions earlier this year, where it quoted the highest ‘viability gap funding’ of ?186 crore.
SunEdison, a global solar major that also manufactures raw material polysilicon as well as solar cells and modules, has about 100 MW of capacity in India. It recently signed a MoU with the government of Rajasthan to build 5,000 MW of solar projects in the state, in lots of 500 MW.
