SunEdison Offers Project Stakes in India's Shining Solar Market

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Indian solar power market is maturing and advancing as companies offer stakes in existing projects and multiple bids are received for new solar schemes.

SunEdison (Belmont, California), a solar power developer and subsidiary of U.S. polysilicon producer MEMC (St. Peters, Missouri), is planning to sell a 49% stake in seven of its Indian solar projects. The 49% offered is the maximum allowed. Market sources say that a U.S.-based company is talking to SunEdison about the deal.

The seven projects, now under construction, have a total capacity of 52 megawatts (MW), with the largest being the 25-MW project in Patan, Gujarat, and SunEdison estimates that in terms of tariff and carbon credit revenues minus development cost, maintenance costs and taxes, the projects would earn more than $140 million, making the 49% stake worth about $69 million.

The global solar industry is watching how the deal turns out as India is a new, large and expanding solar market with high levels of solar radiation. Set against the positives are a lack of quantified solar irradiation data and problems implementing projects.

The outcome of the sale will set a benchmark for other companies, according to the Hindu Business Line.

In response to a new initiative, Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL) has received 22 bids for projects covered by the Karnataka solar policy.

KREDL has invited bids for 80 MW of projects out of a total of 350 MW in the program. The allocation of projects in response to tenders will start soon. The government has identified land for the 80 MW of plants. The land will be allotted for 30 years.

KREDL invited bids for 30 MW of concentrating solar power projects and more than 50 MW of photovoltaic solar power projects. The projects will be allocated under a reverse bidding process that will see projects allocated to bidders that have the greatest discounts to the tariff KREDL fixed at 14.50 rupees (about U.S. 29 cents at current rates).

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.