Indian state-owned utility SJVN has secured INR9.15 billion (US$111 million) of green finance from financial institution the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to fund 190MW of solar projects in India.
The projects consist of a 90MW floating solar project in Madhya Pradesh and a 100MW utility-scale solar PV project to be built in Gujarat, with a total investment of INR12.9 billion between both projects.
Commissioning of the projects is expected to be achieved before the end of the year.
Both Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are among the states with the highest levels of solar development – far behind Rajasthan’s 24GW pipeline capacity as of the end of 2022 – with 9.6GW and 3.2GW of solar pipeline respectively, as shown in the chart below.
Despite a continued push from the Indian government to accelerate the growth of solar PV, some hurdles, such as supply chain issues and land availability in resource-rich areas, could hamper the country’s renewable growth capacity from solar this year.
The state-owned utility continues to develop utility-scale projects across the country, and recently started construction on a 1GW solar project in India’s solar hotbed, Rajasthan, whereas last year it announced plans to develop 5GW of solar PV in the state of Punjab.
The company reiterated its intention to bring 25GW of generation capacity by 2030, of which half will come from solar and wind resources, according to Nand Lal Sharma, chairman and managing director of SJVN.