SunEdison, Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) has announced the commissioning of a 7.72 MW solar power plant that will generate clean electricity for Brakes India Limited (BIL).
Brakes India Limited was established in 1962 and is the nation’s leading manufacturer of automotive and non-automotive braking systems and ferrous castings.
Installed at BIL’s facilities in Munanjipatti in the state of Tamil Nadu, the facility will generate more than 14 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, which will provide more than 6% of Brakes India’s electricity use.
“Solar is a great way for commercial consumers in Tamil Nadu to generate reliable, low cost electricity,” said Pashupathy Gopalan, President of SunEdison Asia-Pacific. “This system also happens to be the largest solar power plant built to date under the Group Captive Scheme in India.”
India’s Group Capture Scheme legislation enables parties to buy electricity directly from an independent power provider without involving the local energy distribution company.
Brakes India approached SunEdison to develop this project in order to comply with the Solar Purchase Requirement set out by state authorities, which states high tension wire customers must source 6% of their energy use from solar.
Solar is becoming mandatory elsewhere in India too – the government of Haryana recently announced all buildings occupying 418 square metres or more must install rooftop solar power systems by September this year.
SunEdison has a significant presence in India. Among its upcoming projects in the country is 5GW of mega-scale grid-connected solar plants in Rajasthan and 5 other solar PV projects around the nation totaling 150 megawatts capacity.
In other recent SunEdison news, the company announced its acquisition of First Wind Holdings, LLC had been completed.
“With the acquisition of First Wind, SunEdison becomes the leading renewable energy developer in the world,” said Ahmad Chatila , President and Chief Executive Officer of SunEdison . “This acquisition enhances SunEdison’s global offering and adds a talented wind development and asset management team.”
The acquisition provides SunEdison with an additional 8 GW of development-stage projects.
Also recently announced was the appointment of Paul Gaynor to the role of Executive Vice President of SunEdison responsible for the North America Utility and Global Wind business unit. Mr. Gaynor was previously the Chief Executive Officer of First Wind Holdings.
Source: SunEdison
