Zebasolar Announces 10MW Solar Project in India

Zebasolar, a U.S. based solar developer, announced today project plans for a 10 MW solar PV power plant in Gujarat, India. The project will be handled by Zebasolar’s Indian based subsidiary. 

Zebasolar will begin production on the PV project sometime in the next five months, and hopes to see completion and full operation by the middle of 2010. The Gujarat-based plant will be developed by Zebasolar, which plans to establish a joint venture company to arrange the engineering, supplies, and construction contracts. The U.S.-based Zebasolar owns 85% outright of its India-based subsidiary, and currently has plans for more than 25 MW of PV solar projects in the works in India. 

The company also has an additional 500 MW’s worth of projects awaiting approval from the Indian government. The Gujarat solar plant will cost the company €35 million and has an anticipated annual output of 16.37 million kilowatt hours. The plant also has a operation commitment contract for 25 years. The project will consist of PV panels installed directly into the ground at the power plant site.

The Gujarat State Energy Agency announced an open tender for electricity prices on the government grid in January 2009 which caused international energy interests in the area to increase rapidly. Since the announcement, over 70 different companies have applied for approval for alternative energy projects. The number of projects submitted, if completed, will total an output of 5,400 MW of energy.

The sudden boom in alternative energy in India is due to India’s recently announced National Solar MIssion, which was approved by the Council on Climate Change earlier last week. India hopes to expand their solar energy yield by almost 20GW by 2020, and by 200 GW by 2050. The thirty year plan will cost the government $20 billion, and greatly increase solar interests in India.