2013 India’s leading power generator Welspun Energy Ltd.(WEL) has achieved financial closure for their 130 MW solar project, India’s largest to date, located in Mandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh. Through a consortium of leading financial institutions, WEL has secured long term project funding of Rs.885 crores. On-ground work for the project is already in progress and it is slated to be commissioned by May 2014.Central Bank of India has been appointed the Lead Lender and Facility Agent for the Consortium
WEL, through its subsidiary Welspun Solar Madhya Pradesh Private Limited (WSMPPL) won the project in May 2012 against 12 qualified bidders by quoting the second lowest tariff of Rs. 8.05 per unit. For the financial closure a Consortium of Banks are participating in the financing of this project in response to the company’s proven track record and implementation ability. WEL’s projects’ performance has been better than compared to any other IPP (Independent Power Producer). For instance, the Gujarat 5 MW project recently recorded a DC PLF of 27.05% - highest achieved by any power project developer in India.
Mr. Vineet Mittal, Co-founder & Managing Director Welspun Energy Ltd. Said, “ The closure of the financial agreements indicates the confidence that financial partners’ have in our execution capabilities and expertise to complete the project in time. Through our innovative engineering capacilities, we have consistently demonstrated that solar tariff can be brought to grid parity in a span of two years. We are proud of the fact that very few clean energy projects of this scale have been overs ubscribed by 1.3 times. Through the continued support of our financial partners, we are confident that the 130 MW project will be commissioned as per committed timelines and deliver better PLFs than designed. This project will help India to meet its clean and green power requirements substantially.”
This project will meet the state’s annual power deficit of 17.9%, and will enable powering of 6,60,000 homes and mitigating 2,29,550 tones of carbon annually. The completion of this project will make Welspun Energy the largest solar power developer in India.
Welspun Energy has more than 300MW of clean energy project in construction, of which 111 MW are operating and the rest are under construction. WEL aims to commission 1.75 GW of Solar & Wind projects over the next few years. Emphasis on engineering excellence and partnership with leading solar power equipment manufacturers have helped the organization to achieve these results.