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Engie turns on India’s 280-MW Raghanesda Solar Power Park
ASIA
ENGIE has commissioned the 280-MWp Raghanesda Solar Power Park in the state of Gujarat in India.
The project will generate 546 GWh per year, avoiding the production of 387,056 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
Engie won the rights to the project at a com- petitive tender held in August 2019 by the state government-run GUVNL.
Engie has signed a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with GUVNAL, and has also signed an Implementation Support Agreement with state-utility Gujarat Power Corporation Limited (GPCL).
The project is being financed through a long- term project financing arrangement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Societe Generale.
The project has been implemented through Electro Solaire Private Limited (ESPL), a special purpose vehicle owned by the Engie Group.
The solar modules for the project were sup- plied by Jinko and LONGi while inverters were procured from Huawei.
Sterling & Wilson was the Balance of Plant contractor and will also be the O&M provider for this project for a period of five years.
Despite the challenges of executing a project during a global pandemic, a very high-water table, creating a challenging design and imple- mentation issue for the module mounting struc- tures, and the project being situated in a seismic zone, the team of experts ensured the completion of the project in line with the schedule.
Neerav Nanavaty, country manager, Engie India, said, “After overcoming several challenges at the site, the team is excited to announce the commissioning of this marquee project that is sure to boost the dynamic Indian solar industry
and contribute towards decarbonizing India’s energy mix.”
Engie’s portfolio in India now stands at 17 projects with over 1.1 GWp of solar PV and 280 MW of wind power.
It has also built the 338-MWp Kadapa solar PV project in the state of Andhra Pradesh, which was switched on in 2019.
India’s solar market currently stands at 42.3 GW of the country’s 384.1 GW of installed capacity in India, or about 11% of total power capacity, according to IHS Markit.
Wind stood at 39.5 GW or about 10%; while the combined installed capacity for coal and gas comprised 61% of the power mix.
IHS Markit said in a recent report that prob- lems with timely payments, land acquisition and grid access in India have not prevented foreign investors from forging investment partnerships with domestic independent power producers (IPPs).
Sovereign wealth funds from Singapore and Abu Dhabi, along with banks such as Goldman Sachs, funds such as Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and utilities such as Japan’s JERA are major investors in solar projects led by Indian developers.
India wants to be open to foreign investment, as the government knows that it cannot meet its target of 450 GW of renewable capacity by using domestic capital alone.
At the G7 summit meeting in June, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed that developing countries needed better access to cli- mate finance.
Projects such as Raghanesda, backed by the ADB and Societe Generale, are a good example of how India needs foreign investment to meet its green targets.
Week 33 18•August•2021 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P11
