Norfund, KLP to buy 49% in Enel’s 420 MW solar project

The Norwegian Climate Investment Fund, managed by Norfund, and KLP, Norway’s largest pension company, have signed a deal to raise a 49% stake in a 420 MW solar power plant in India developed by Italy’s Enel Green Power.

August 24, 2022 Uma Gupta

Enel's 420 MW solar project in Rajasthan

Image: Norfund

Norwegian investment company Norfund and pension fund KLP, also based in Norway, will together buy a 49% stake in a 420 MW DC (300 MW AC) solar plant being built in India. Italy’s Enel Green Power is developing the solar plant in the Bikaner District of Rajasthan.

Norfund and KLP recently signed the agreement to raise the stake in the solar project, Thar Surya 1, for around INR 2.8 billion ($35 million).

Enel Green Power won the project in July 2020 through an auction by Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). It will sell the generated electricity to SECI under a 25-year PPA.

The total project cost is around $200 million. It has already secured debt financing from Beijing-headquartered Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank ($50 million) and International Finance Corporation ($50 million).

“When the project is up and running, it will deliver more than 750 GWh per year. Given India’s current energy sources, with a considerable proportion coming from coal, the project will avoid more than 615,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year – equivalent to the yearly emissions from 316,000 petrol cars in Norway,” stated Norfund.

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