US-based Convalt Energy wants to put up 1,000 MW of solar plants in Karnataka, a solar power plant with a difference. The company, founded in 2010 by Hari Achutan, a former Director in the Alternative Investments group of Credit Suisse Asset Management, USA, intends to put up a pumped-storage hydro project along with the solar plant, which is meant to function as an energy storage instrument.

A memorandum of understanding to facilitate this was signed between the company and the government of Karnataka, at Vibrant Gujarat event on Monday.

On Monday, Hari told BusinessLine that Convalt had “started work” on the projects and issues such as land and buyers of power would be finalised over the next 2-3 months.

Work on construction of the project(s) will begin in 2016 and the 1,000 MW would be completed in a “three year time frame”, Hari said.

He said that the idea was to sell the power to both state-owned electricity distribution companies as well as other, private sector consumers. The computing industry is a major consumer of power, he noted, adding that Convalt was talking to many multinational corporations in Bengaluru to sell power.

In terms of its promoter and management team, Convalt is by itself a multinational company, with the Indian-American, Hari, as the Chairman and CEO, and the top team including a Thai, a Swiss and a Swede.

The top management team also includes Thirumoorthy Ramachandran, who has worked for L&T and Sterling & Wilson and K M Balasubramanium, a former employee of Dodsal Ltd and Punj Llyd. Mr Ramachandran is the head of India operations and Balasubramanium is the Director-Operations for India. The gjroup of advisors of Convalt includes M S Ramachandran, a former Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Oil Corporation.

Hari told Business Line that Convalt was interested also in buying wind assets in India.

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