First Solar announces its first development project in India

First Solar Inc. (FSLR), announced its first development project in India. Through its Indian subsidiary, the company plans to build, 45Megawatt (MW) AC capacity of solar power generation in the new state of Telangana, which will supply electricity through the grid to the Southern Power Distribution Company of Telangana State Limited (TSSPDCL), at a levelized tariff of Rs. 6.49p/kwh for a period of 20 years.

The project will include construction at two different sites in the Mahabubnagar district, and is expected to be in commercial operation by May of 2015.

“The state of Telangana has an energy deficit that demands immediate creation of incremental generation capacity. The excellent solar resource in the state combined with our CdTe thin film module technology that is ideally suited for hot climates like India, allows us to bid tariffs that brings solar energy pricing to parity with diesel/gas and potentially imported coal, for the consumers across all segments. We are optimistic that the state will enhance their plans for creating a higher deployment of solar in the overall energy mix to address the energy deficit in a sustainable manner” said Sujoy Ghosh, Country Head, for First Solar India.

Mr. Ghosh said construction of the project was expected to begin by October of this year. On completion, the projects are expected to produce approximately 86,880 Mwhr of electricity each year which will be sufficient to meet the needs of over 92,000 average homes in Telangana.