Indian energy player Azure Power’s portfolio has surpassed 3GW, reinforcing the company’s position as a major independent solar power producer in India.

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Image: Azure Power surpases 3GW. Photo: Courtesy of dlritter/FreeImages.com

This milestone was achieved with the company’s recent win of a 300MW solar power project in the largest solar auction conducted by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), a Government of India enterprise and a company with an AA+ domestic debt rating by ICRA, a Moody’s company.

With this win, 87% of Azure Power’s 2.2GW contracted pipeline is with counterparties that have A to AAA domestic debt ratings. Over 1GW of the pipeline is with sovereign counterparties.

The 300 MWs are an Interstate Transmission System (ISTS) grid connected solar PV project. Azure Power will sign a 25-year power purchase agreement with SECI to supply power at a tariff of INR 2.64 ($0.004) per kWh which was 8% above the lowest bid in the auction. The project can be developed outside a solar park anywhere in India and is expected to be commissioned by 2020.

Azure Power founder, chairman and CEO Inderpreet Wadhwa said “We started with the vision of providing affordable solar power for generations and the mission to be the lowest cost power producer in the world. Through our collective efforts and support from our stakeholders, we have achieved this important milestone of crossing a 3GW portfolio with large scale, mini/micro grid and rooftop projects across the country.

“This achievement is a testament to our strong project development, engineering, and execution capabilities. We are delighted to make this contribution towards the realization of our Hon’ble Prime Minister’s commitment towards clean and green energy, through solar power generation.”

Azure Power was founded by Inderpreet Wadhwa in 2008 with a vision of providing affordable solar power in an efficient, sustainable and socially responsible manner. Azure Power has rapidly grown to become one of the largest solar power developers in the India. The company started its journey over ten years ago by developing India’s first private utility scale solar plant, a 2MW plant in Awan Punjab.

Over the last decade, the company has witnessed tremendous growth and has installed over 1GW of solar capacity with a footprint across 23 states in India. The company is backed by several marquee investors such as Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Helion Venture Partners, Société de Promotion et de Participation pour la Coopération Économique (PROPARCO), Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (DEG) and Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO).

Source: Company Press Release