First Solar Looks To Cash In On The Green Mood In India
Bogged down by staggering power supply in India, pharma units and IT companies, among others, are looking at solar power to meet their energy demands.
First Solar has envisaged a good opportunity in this segment and is planning to set up dedicated solar power plants for industries and commercial establishments across India, who would like to meet some part of their electricity requirement through renewable energy sources.
First Solar India head, Sujoy Ghosh explains that several multinationals such as Microsoft and Cisco, which procure renewable power globally, have large offices in India. Additionally, several Indian IT and pharmaceutical companies are also interested in sourcing a part of their energy requirements through solar power
Only recently, Indian IT company Infosys announced its intentions to source its entire power demand from solar power projects by 2018. The company expects a cumulative demand of 175 MW by 2018. During 2013–14 Infosys procured 75.6 million kWh, the equivalent of about 30% of the company’s total electricity consumption, from renewable energy projects.
According to Mr. Ghosh, industries which have opted for express feeders can have dedicated solar power plants to secure uninterrupted power supply. In addition to its environmental benefits, solar power allows fixed tariffs in the long-term.
At the recently held RE-INVEST summit, First Solar announced that it would set up 5,000 MW of green energy projects in India by 2019. As per GTM Research, India is expected to be one of the top five solar markets by 2020.
First Solar is currently busy executing 200 MW of solar power projects in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The company had surprised the solar sector, with some of the lowest bids in these states (here and here).
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