Renewable energy project developer Orange Renewable has signed a power purchase agreement with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for solar power project. The company said it won the contract for 100 MW project in the state of Maharashtra, for a winning bid of 4.43 INR ($0.07) per kWh.
The Economic Times (ET), an Indian business daily, reported on April 15, 2016 that the PPA is for a duration of 25 years. The commercial operation date of the project is scheduled for 2017. Naresh Mansukhani, country head solar of Orange Renewable, said, "The agreement with SECI is the first footstep of Orange Renewable towards the company's solar energy portfolio expansion strategy in India."
The 100 MW project is part of the 450 MW solar power tendered by SECI for reverse auction through online bidding. The entire 450 MW capacity belongs to the non-solar park scheme of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) Phase-II, Batch-III.
Orange Renewable is backed by the private equity arm of the AT Group of Singapore, which has invested in upstream oil and gas, real estate, EPC and renewable energy companies. The group plans to have a global renewable energy portfolio of 1,000 MW by 2017, for which Orange has allocated $40 million with more funding to come in after projects are finalized.
Orange is headed by CEO Sudhir Nunes who has previously worked with Gamesa Wind and Renewable Energy Trust. The company's website states that it has plans to develop 50 MW of solar power in Karnataka and is evaluating proposals to set up a 30 MW solar park in Maharashtra and Gujarat each. Orange is already operational in the field of wind energy in India, running 100.5 MW in Madhya Pradesh and 59.9 MW of wind projects commissioned and operational since March 2013.