SunEdison signs largest private green PPA with Tata Power

Renewable energy company SunEdison today said it had signed a power purchase agreement with Tata Power Delhi Distribution, for supplying electricity from a 180 MW solar plant being built by it in Madhya Pradesh.

The agreement marks the largest private power purchase agreement between a renewable energy producer and a power distributor.

The company will sell electricity to Tata Power for 20 years.

The power would be sold at two tariffs - Rs6.49 and Rs6.52.

The plants will generate 375,000 MW hours per year while eliminating the emission of approximately 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum as per projections.

SunEdison Services would carry out the maintenance of the plants.

''The people of Delhi will benefit from (getting) clean, reliable affordable energy as a result of this agreement,'' said Pashupathy Gopalan, head,Asia-Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa operations, SunEdison.

Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) is the largest electricity distribution utility in Delhi, and provides power to over 6 million people in India's capital.

This is the largest agreement that SunEdison has signed under the open access solar framework, which allows renewable energy providers to sell energy directly through the national grid to end customers.

"This 180 MW of solar power demonstrates that good things happen when you bring two of India's largest energy brands together," said Gopalan.

This project makes a direct contribution towards India's goal of generating 100 gigawatts (100,000 MW) of solar power by 2022.

"Renewable energy is a big focus for TPDDL, and signing this power purchase agreement with SunEdison highlights our commitment," said Praveer Sinha, Tata Power Delhi Distribution's CEO and managing director.

"SunEdison is a globally renowned company and we are sure that our partnership will pave the way for a new wave of projects to support India's renewable energy mission."