SunEdison signs MoU with Tamil Nadu to develop 2GW RE projects

SunEdison has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Tamil Nadu to develop 2 gigawatts of wind and solar power in the Indian state over the next 5 years. The company would be investing close to Rs.13,000 crore ($1,959.31 million) to establish the projects.

According to SunEdison Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa region president Pasupathy Gopalan, installation of each megawatt would involve an outlay of around Rs.6.5 crore ($0.98 million). SunEdison signed the MoU at the Global Investors Meet organised by the state government.

The proposed capacity is part of the company’s larger plan to develop 15.2 gigawatts of renewable energy in India by 2022. It has stated that 75 percent of the costs would be debt financed by domestic institutions.  Gopalan says the company’s strategy is to develop a project, list it and when capital base needs to be beefed up, sell the asset.

Earlier this month, SunEdison commissioned eight solar power systems for Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in India.

The projects of total capacity of 1.9 megawatts peak have been installed along the newly completed Badarpur-Faridabad metro line.

With the commissioning of the systems, the line has become the first in the DMRC network with building integrated photovoltaic systems.

SunEdison developed the capacity in two months and expects it to remain in operation for 25 to 30 years with little cost for maintenance.

Each year, the systems installed on the metro network are expected to generate 2.5 gigawatt-hours of electricity. It would prevent emission of 1,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year.

SunEdison is also building solar projects totaling 1.7 MW the Yamuna Bank station and Yamuna Bank yard of DMRC.

According to the company, it will operate and maintain the solar power plants through SunEdison Services, a global 24×7 asset management, monitoring and reporting services provider.

Ajith Kumar S

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