Canadian Solar signs PPAs with SECI for 80 MW of solar in India’s Maharashtra state

Chinese vertically integrated solar company Canadian Solar has announced today that it has agreed power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 80 MW of Indian solar PV capacity with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

The 80 MWac of PV projects were awarded to Canadian Solar under the recent 450 MW solar auction in Maharashtra, a state in the western region of India. Canadian Solar, which has a growing global downstream pipeline of solar parks, will commence construction of this 80 MW capacity later this year.

SECI, which is the Indian government’s corporate solar arm, has signed 25-year PPAs for the solar power to be produced by the projects. For Canadian Solar, the company’s Indian pipeline now stands at 110 MWac, which – according to company CEO Shawn Qu – represents a “significant milestone in one of the world’s fastest-growing renewables markets”.

India is poised to supplant Japan as the world’s third-most dynamic solar market in 2017, with most analysts expecting the country to add at least 8 GW of new solar capacity this year, while some suggest that it could reach 10 GW.

Cumulatively, India surpassed that 10 GW threshold in the past few days, but the country still needs to add 90 GW of solar over the next five years if it is to hit its nationally mandated solar target of 100 GW by 2022.