SkyPower Global (SkyPower), a Toronto-based group that claims to be the world's largest developer and owner of utility-scale solar power, has secured four power purchase agreements with the Indian state of Telangana to build projects with a total capacity of 200 megawatts (MW).
Following this deal, SkyPower has secured a total of 400MW worth of solar projects across the states of Madhya Pradesh and Telangana in India since entering the country last July.
The milestone comes as India forges on with efforts to reach its goal of generating 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar power by 2022.
Construction for the 150MW solar projects in Madhya Pradesh is planned to commence this year, the company said in a statement. When released, the Madhya Pradesh contracts set a record low solar tariff at INR5.05 (€0.067; $0.074) per kilowatt-hours, 28 percent lower than the tariff standard determined by the country's Central Electricity Regulatory Commission for 2015.
The company has set a target to add 9.9GW solar power capacity in India over the next five to seven years, according to local reports. It also has plans to launch an Indian solar fund which will invite investors to bid for projects alongside SkyPower in the region.
Outside of India, SkyPower announced plans last September to build a portfolio of 2GW utility-scale solar projects over the next five years in Bangladesh, representing an investment commitment of $4.3 billion.
Most recently, the Canadian solar developer joined the Climate Bonds Initiative, a London-based organisation which aims to tap the $100 trillion bond market for climate change solutions.
“Globally, access to capital is by far the biggest factor impacting the spread of solar energy project developments. This historic partnership will exponentially grow the green debt capital market, thereby driving down the cost of capital for solar energy projects,” said Kerry Adler, SkyPower's president and chief executive officer.
SkyPower has built, assembled and acquired an extensive pipeline of over 25GW worldwide to date, 9GW of which will be built in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia over the next five years, according to the statement.
It has signed over 30 utility-scale power purchase agreements and contracts, representing over $80 billion worth of long-term renewable energy sales to regional utilities and governments.
SkyPower is majority owned by CIM Group, a Los Angeles-based urban real estate and infrastructure investment firm. The group acquired the solar assets of SkyPower Corporation in November 2009.
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