Tata buys Indian wind operator

INDIA: Tata Power has signed an agreement with AES Corporation to buy Indian wind-farm operator Saurashtra Windfarms and its 39.2MW project.

Tata Power managing director Anil Sardana

Saurashtra owns and operates the wind farm near Dwarka in the Jamnagar district of Gujarat. It has been fully operational since January 2012 and has a power purchase agreement for the sale of electricity at a tariff of INR 2.56/kWh ($0.041/kWh).

On top of this, the project is registered with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and is eligible to receive carbon credits.

This latest acquisition brings Tata's total wind generation capacity to 437MW, from sites across five states.

Tata Power managing director Anil Sardana said: "Tata Power is committed to generating 20-25% of its total generation capacity from clean energy sources.

"This is our second acquisition of an operating wind asset, and we are in constant look out for similar opportunities in respect of wind and solar plants."

The announcement comes as the Indian utility moves away from thermal power generation due to a number of regulatory issues.

Tata did not reveal the terms or value of the deal.