Seeking to garner a share of the Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission 2020 initiative, U.S.-based solar energy giant American Capital Energy on Thursday announced joining hands with MSM Energy to float a 50:50 joint venture company ICE Solar to provide photovoltaic (PV) solar engineering, procurement and construction to the Indian markets.
Addressing a press conference here, American Capital Energy CEO and President Tom Hunton said the new solar energy joint venture would entail an investment of Rs. 2,000 crore over the next three years.
The company had already bagged a 5 MW solar power project in Gujarat in the private sector and had got solicitations from a number of players wanting to venture into solar energy.
Mr. Hunton said this was the right time for the world to switch to clear and renewable energy and said embracing solar energy would reduce energy risk and pollution, turn the open space or roof tops into revenue earners, reduce energy costs and gain competitive advantage.
Speaking on the occasion, Walter Borden, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, American Capital Energy, said “We are proven system integrators and project developers with track record of large commercial and utility scale installations, including the largest rooftop systems in North America and separately one of the largest utility scale ground mounted projects in the U.S. We are excited to enter the Indian market and plan to install 100 MW of PV solar in the first few years of our operations.”
He said the objective of ICE Solar was to bring advanced engineering expertise in the solar industry and provide such facilities in India which were in the initial stage of a PV explosion that would unfold during the next few years. ICE will provide energy production guarantee and will take single point responsibility from techno-commercial feasibility analysis to design, engineering, construction, commissioning and maintenance of photovoltaic systems.
