International Finance Corporation (IFC) on Thursday announced an investment of $4 million to build the country’s first large scale grid connected thin-film solar power plant, which will help bolster clean energy locally and provide additional electricity to about 11,000 people.
The investment by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, into Sapphire Industrial Infrastructures, a subsidiary of Moser Baer Clean Energy, will support the construction of a 5-megawatt solar plant at Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu.
“IFC recognises the potential of large-scale solar power generation to help meet India’s enormous energy needs,” country head-Solar Farms at Moser Baer Clean Energy Rajya Ghei said.
The learning from this project will help us replicate similar projects in other Indian states, Ghai added.
The solar plant will have the capacity to produce eight million units of power annually, and is expected to avoid approximately 6,600 tonnes of greenhouse-gas emissions per year.
Grid connected solar electricity has received lukewarm response from the private sector in India due to higher initial investment and generation costs as compared to conventional energy sources.
“The successful commissioning of this first large scale thin film solar photo-voltaic plant demonstrates private sector’s ability to rise to the challenges associated with achieving a balanced energy mix,” IFC director, Infrastructure Asia, Anita George, said.
