Azure plans Rs 225 cr solar power plant in Gujarat; gets funding from IFC

Azure Power, a solar power manufacturer, is in the process of setting up a 15 Mw solar photovoltaic power project in Gujarat. The company has also allied an agreement with the state government. Land (75 acres) for the project has already been identified at Dahegam and the plant is estimated to be commissioned by 2011. The company is presently negotiating with the state government for power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply power to the state.

Once operational, the project will produce over 20,000 megawatt hours of clean energy annually to reach a hundred villages in several Indian states, and more than 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions will be avoided annually.

Mr. Inderpreet Wadhwa, CEO of Azure Power, stated that the planned plant will come up at Dahegam near Gandhinagar and the estimated cost will be Rs 255 crore at Rs 17 crore per Mw for a grid connected solar based power plant. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will provide a $10 million equity investment to the company to help implement the project.  This is the first solar project under IFC’s new clean technology investment program.

Azure Power also proposes to enhance the installed capacity for solar power generation in Gujarat to 50 to 60 Mw in next three years. Azure is the first private sector company to execute a megawatt scale grid connected solar photovoltaic power plant in India (Punjab),

Indeed the company has strategies to execute several megawatt scale solar power plants across the country over the next 12 months. It has already inked agreements with governments of Gujarat, Haryana and Karnataka and is in talks with state governments of West Bengal, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

Source: SolarIndiaOnline