NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By Chito Santiago

One of India’s leading independent power producers in the solar energy sector, ACME Solar, has signed a shareholders’ agreement with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) / Sustainable Investments in Infrastructure and Innovation (S3i) and the Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) to develop a 250-megawatt solar power project located in Rajasthan, India.

The total cost of the project, announced on June 17, is just under the equivalent of US $200 million, of which about a quarter is funded through the equity contributions of the partners, with the UNOPS share being 10%. UNOPS, a UN organization, will co-invest with S3i. Once in operation, the solar plant will provide clean electricity to 500,000 households under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Solar Energy Corporation of India.

Photo courtesy of Marufish.