Finland-based company Fortum is bullish on the Indian solar power market, but looks to cautiously expand its presence in one of the fastest and most competitive markets in the world.
Fortum has announced plans to invest €200-400 million to increase operational assets in India. The company currently operates 15 MW of solar power capacity, and recently secured rights to develop a 70 MW project in a solar power park in Rajasthan. Fortum is now planning to bid for an additional 100 MW of capacity.
The company secured the 70 MW project at Rs 4.34/kWh (US¢6.5/kWh) which remains the lowest-ever tariff bid in India. The project is part of a 420 MW solar power park being developed by NTPC Limited in the western state of Rajasthan.
The planned investment of up to €400 million (Rs 3,000 crore) translates into 500 MW solar PV capacity on a full capital cost basis. If one considers that this investment will be targeted only for equity investment in the projects, the company will be able to support a capacity of around 1.6 GW.
The announcement by Fortum comes at a time when major project developers like SunEdison and SkyPower Global are looking to equity investors to complete their large-scale solar power projects. SunEdison has around 1 GW while SkyPower has around 400 MW capacity under construction.
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Electrifying Industrial Heat for Steel, Cement, & More
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
