Scatec Partners With ACME For 900 MW Solar Plant in India

Norway headquartered renewable power producer and supplier, Scatec has today announced its partnership with an Indian solar developer ACME, to develop a 900 MW solar power plant in Rajasthan, India.

This solar power project includes a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) secured in a tender in 2018.

Scatec develops, builds owns, and operates solar, wind, and hydropower plants and storage solutions. Having a current renewable energy portfolio of 3.5 GW, it claims of having a 15 GW of capacity in operation or under construction by the end of 2025.

Speaking of the partnership, CEO of Scatec, Raymond Carlsen stated, “We are excited to partner with ACME, a leading solar power developer, on our first project in India. The country is targeting significant growth in renewable energy capacity by 2030 and is a key growth market for renewables. We have already established presence on the ground and are positioning for future tenders within solar, wind, and hybrids.”

The project has an estimated total Capex of USD 400 million, with 75 percent debt financing from an Indian state-owned lender. Scatec will hold a 50 percent economic interest in the project, while ACME will retain another 50 percent. ACME will be the turn-key EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) provider for the project. While Scatec will ensure delivery according to international standards, HSSE, and E&S, as well as optimization of engineering, procurement, and operations of the plants. A 1,600 GW of annual production capacity is expected from this solar plant.

“This transaction is an important milestone to position Scatec for future growth in the Indian market. We see opportunities to offer various large-scale solutions across technologies in India, both based on federal and state tenders, as well as through entering into direct PPAs with corporate off-takers, Raymond added.

ACME claims of having a portfolio of 5.0 GW, out of which 2.3 GW in operating and 2.7GW in under construction. “We are very happy to have Scatec as our partner in India and look forward to building a much larger portfolio of renewable energy projects with this partnership,” says Mr. Manoj Kumar Upadhyay Founder and Chairman of ACME group.

Manoj further added, “This partnership is a testimony of the robust growth potential India offers with a plan to achieve 450 GW of renewable energy power by 2030, enabling policies, ease of doing business, and support by the government of India to investors and renewable companies globally.”

The construction of this solar power plant is expected to start in 2021 with presumed completion in 2022.