Norway’s Scatec buys 50% in Acme’s 900-MW solar project in Rajasthan

Acme will be the turn-key engineering, procurement and construction provider with scheduled completion in 2022, the statement added. The deal marks Scatec’s foray in India’s renewable energy space and expects the country “to be a key market in the years to come”.

Norwegian renewables player Scatec said on Thursday that it has signed an agreement with domestic firm Acme Solar for a 50% stake in the latter’s upcoming 900 mega-watt (MW) power generation assets in Rajasthan. Though the financial details of the deal were not disclosed, Scatec said in a statement that “the project has an estimated total capex of $400 million (around `2,921 crore), with 75% debt financing from an Indian state-owned lender”.

Acme will be the turn-key engineering, procurement and construction provider with scheduled completion in 2022, the statement added. The deal marks Scatec’s foray in India’s renewable energy space and expects the country “to be a key market in the years to come”.

“We see opportunities to offer various large-scale solutions across technologies in India… as well as through entering into direct power purchase agreements with corporate off-takers,” Raymond Carlsen, CEO of Scatec, said.

According to Shailendra Mohan Bebortha, India country representative for Scatec Solar, the assets include the plants being set up by Acme’s subsidiaries — Acme Raisar and Acme Dhaulpur. Both the subsidiaries had quoted tariffs of Rs 2.44/units in the first two tranches of auctions conducted by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (Seci) in 2018. Acme Raisar had even sought the termination of the PPAs for 300 MW signed with the Seci because of force majeure events such as the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, land acquisition-related issues and delay in building associated transmission network. “Currently the (PPA) matter is under consideration of the CERC and we expect a favourable outcome soon,” Bebortha added.

Experts pointed that the deal is a “win-win” for both the companies, stating that rather than cancelling the PPAs, it is a better proposition to offload some of its stake to raise cash and complete the project work. “From the buyer’s perspective, since the projects faced significant delays and the company wanted to cancel the PPAs, it will get part ownership of the assets at a discounted price,” a sector analyst told FE on the condition of anonymity. The power from Acme’s units, which sought the PPA termination, is scheduled to be supplied to Delhi, Haryana, Bihar and Puducherry.