SunEdison Inks Solar Deal With India's Largest Utility

(RTTNews) - SunEdison, Inc. (SUNE), the world's largest renewable energy development company, said it has entered into a long-term deal to provide 180 megawatts of utility-scale solar power to India's Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited, or TPDDL

The power purchase agreement is for a period of 20 years. SunEdison noted that it is the largest agreement signed by it under the open access solar framework, which allows renewable energy providers to sell energy directly through the national grid to end customers.

TPDDL is the largest electricity distribution utility in India's capital city of Delhi, providing power to over 6 million people. TPDDL is a joint venture between Tata Power and the Government of National Capital Territory or NCT of Delhi, with a 51 percent stake being held by Tata Power.

SunEdison will supply 90 megawatts of power to the distribution company at a delivered tariff of Rs. 6.49 per kilowatt-hour, while the remaining 90 megawatts will be at a delivered tariff of Rs. 6.52 per unit.

Pashupathy Gopalan, SunEdison president of Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa said. "The people of New Delhi will benefit from clean, reliable and affordable energy as a result of this project. This project makes a direct and powerful contribution towards India's goal of generating 100 gigawatts of solar power by 2022."

SunEdison said on Monday that it will acquire Utah-based rooftop panel installer Vivint Solar (VSLR) for about $2.2 billion. The transaction expands SunEdison's RSC platform and is intended to accelerate the company's existing business in the U.S., United Kingdom and Australia.

Solar power is projected to become cheaper than or equivalent to conventional thermal energy prices in India over the next two to three years. By 2020, renewables could account for 20 percent of India's power generation capacity - and the electricity will be cheaper than coal.

The Indian government plans to install 100 GW of solar power capacity by 2022. The government has pushed renewable energy to the top of its energy security agenda, seeking to minimize India's dependence on coal-fuelled electricity.

The solar power plants for the project will be built in the state of Madhya Pradesh and are expected to supply TPDDL with electricity over the next 20 years.

The plants are projected to generate 375,000 megawatt-hours a year. This will eliminate the emission of about 300,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to taking more than 54,000 cars off the road.

The operation and maintenance of the solar power plants will be performed by SunEdison Services.

SunEdison currently operates more than 250 MW of installed solar capacity and has more than 1,000 MW under development in India. SunEdison's work across India includes utility-scale power plants, canal top solar systems, rooftop solar, over 2,000 agricultural solar water pumps and more than 50 rural micro-grids.