The US solar cells and module major, First Solar, today began a fresh innings in India with the commissioning of its 20 MW solar plant in the state of Telangana.
First Solar, which has been selling its thin film photovoltaic panels in the last four years, decided last year that it would also set up solar power plants, own them and sell energy. Following the decision, First Solar bid and won several rights to sell electricity to various power distribution companies and is in the process of setting up 200 MW of projects for that purpose.
The 20 MW Telangana plant is the first of those plants. First Solar will get Rs 6.49 a kWhr under a 20-year power purchase agreement with the state.
The 200 MW under construction is part of First Solar’s larger ambition in India - in February, the company said it would like to build 5,000 MW of solar projects in India. It also continues to sell modules - it has plants in Malaysia and the US. So far, First Solar has sold modules worth 675 MW in India.
Newsmaker
The American company has been in the news many times in the global solar industry for a number of reasons. Last week, a ‘YieldCo’ promoted by it began trading, making First Solar one of the earlier users of ‘YieldCo’ to finance its projects. (An YieldCo is a company set up by a parent company by hiving off some of its operating assets. The new, asset-owning company - the YieldCo - raises funds from the public for financing the assets purchase. The YieldCo now has operating assets that can generate dividends - one distinguishing feature of an YieldCo is that most of the cash it generates is paid off as dividends. Typically, the parent company keeps ‘dropping-in’ more and more assets into the YieldCo. In the US, the YieldCo also has certain tax advantages. Apart from First Solar, another American company which is active in the Indian solar market, SunEdison, has also set up a YieldCo.)
On two other occasions was First Solar in the news lately, once when it announced a breakthrough in cell efficiency (conversion of sun’s energy falling on the cell into useful electricity) and more recently, when Apple Inc. entered into a deal with First Solar for buying electricity worth $ 848 million over the next 25 years.