Tata Power arm to buy wind farm in Gujarat

www.thehindu.com
8 Oct 2013

Tata Power, on Tuesday, said that it would acquire a 39.2 MW wind farm in Gujarat in a move that would scale up its renewable energy portfolio.

The company's 100% subsidiary, Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd. (TPREL), has signed a share purchase agreement (SPA) with AES Corp for acquisition of the US company's 100% shareholding in AES Saurashtra Windfarms Pvt Ltd. (ASW). The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

It costs about Rs. 6 crore to set up one MW of wind power capacity. The reason behind the exit of AES from this project is not known. ASW owns and operates a 39.2 MW wind farm in Jamnagar district of Gujarat.

The project has been fully operational since January, 2012, and ASW has executed a power purchase agreement with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd, for sale of electricity at a tariff of Rs. 3.56/kW for the duration of the project.

TPREL was selected as the preferred bidder for the sale, and the acquisition is subject to certain conditions. The deal is expected to go through in a few months time, Tata Power said.

With this deal, Tata Power's wind operational generation capacity will go up to 437 MW, with wind turbine generators located across five states, including Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

"Tata Power is committed to generating 20 25% of its total generation capacity from clean energy sources, and is proud to have signed this SPA. This is our second acquisition of an operating wind asset and we are constantly looking out for similar opportunities in respect of wind and solar plants", Anil Sardana, Managing Director, Tata Power, said in a statement.