SunEdison, Inc. (NYSE: SUNE), has announced the signing of a long-term solar power purchase agreement (solar PPA) with Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL).
The deal will see SunEdison provide 180 megawatts of utility-scale solar power for use by New Delhi residents and businesses.
“This 180 MW of solar power demonstrates that good things happen when you bring two of India’s largest energy brands together,” said Pashupathy Gopalan, SunEdison president of Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa. ” This project makes a direct and powerful contribution towards India’s goal of generating 100 gigawatts of solar power by 2022.”
The arrangement signifies the largest open access solar framework agreement SunEdison has undertaken to date. The framework enables providers of renewables to sell electricity directly through India’s national grid to end customers.
Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited is the biggest electricity utility in Delhi, supplying power to more than 6 million people.
“SunEdison is a globally renowned company and we are sure that our partnership will pave the way for a new wave of projects to support India’s renewable energy mission,” said Praveer Sinha, Tata Power Delhi Distribution’s CEO and managing director.
The solar farms to be used in connection with the PPA are to be constructed in Madhya Pradesh. Collectively, the plants are forecast to generate 375,000 megawatt-hours of clean electricity annually, and avoid the production of 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
In other SunEdison news, Mr. Gopalan been named Solar Power Person of the Year during the Renewable World International Convention in Delhi.
“It is an incredible honor to be named the Solar Person of the Year,” said Mr. Gopalan. “SunEdison is dedicated to furthering India’s renewable energy program, and plans to develop more than 15 gigawatts of Solar by 2022. With hard work and dedication, I’m confident that we can achieve this goal together.”
Part of that 15 gigawatts is 5GW of wind and solar to be built in the state Karnataka over the next five years.
SunEdison has more than 250 megawatts of installed solar capacity already operational in India and in excess of 1,000 MW capacity currently being developed.
