A US renewable energy company, 8minutenergy Renewables LLC, will set up 4 GW of solar power capacity in India, according to a statement from the White House, issued on Tuesday.
“8minutenergy Renewables will pursue a 4 GW solar photovoltaic project pipeline in India,” the statement said. “These utility-scale solar projects are expected to generate over 10,000 jobs in the construction phase in India.”
Founded in 2009 by Martin Hermann and Tom Buttgenbach, the California-based company today has 330 MW of operating solar plants. Plants of total capacity of 400 MW are under construction, while another 3,000 MW are in the pipeline. These include an 800 MW solar farm at Mount Signal in California, claimed to be the world’s largest.
It calls itself 8minutenergy because it takes 8 minutes for light from the sun to reach the earth. “We take it from there,” the company says in its website.
Another US company, SunLink Corporation “is partnering with Indian companies to deploy 1.4 GW of solar projects over the next five years,” says the White House statement. SunLink is into the manufacture of solar racking systems, or the frames on which modules are mounted. It also provides performance monitoring solutions.
In the meantime, the US has announced the setting up of a Clean Energy Finance Hub, which “will serve as a coordinating mechanism to focus United States Government efforts that, in partnership with leading Indian financial institutions, will increase renewable energy investment in India,” the statement says.