New Delhi, India – In the times of global warming, climate change and falling natural resources, conserving environment and energy is one of the greatest concerns. Efforts in this regard are made across the world at an urgent pace and the Indian government too has made a major commitment to renewable energy.
The Indian government has announced its Solar Mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change in November 2009 with the goal to generate 1,000 MW of solar power by 2013 and 20,000 MW by 2020.
In light of this, a major step will be taken on Thursday to harness solar energy in India. Under this initiative, American Capital Energy (ACE) and MSM Energy (MSME) will start a solar energy joint venture based in India. The new entity, ICE Solar, will immediately begin providing photovoltaic (PV) solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) to the Indian market.
According to Mr. Tom Hunton, President and CEO, American Capital Energy, the time is right for the world to adopt the clean and renewable energy source as the major electricity producer. “There is a four pronged advantage to embracing solar energy. To – 1) Reduce Energy Risk and Pollution, 2) Turn our open space or roof top into revenue, 3) Reduce Energy Costs immediately, and 4), Gain a Competitive Advantage and Don’t fall behind. In all these regards, this is a great opportunity for all of us to popularize and propagate the use of Solar PVs,” said Mr. Hunton.
According to Mr. Madhav Muvvala, President, MSM Energy, subsidiary of MSM Industries, Inc., USA, “ICE Solar, is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this growth opportunity through MSME’s significant business development efforts and American Capital Energy’s considerable engineering, procurement and construction experience”.
According to Mr. Walter Borden, Member, Board of Directors, and Managing Director, Asia Pacific for American Capital Energy has a distinct advantage in providing Solar PV solutions.
“We are a proven system integrator and project developer with track record of large commercial and utility-scale installations, including the largest rooftop systems in North America and separately one of the largest utility-scale ground mounted projects in the U.S. We have experienced teams with demonstrated execution capabilities and practical knowledge of all issues in project development and implementation. We are excited to enter the Indian market and have plans to excel here too,” said Mr. Walter Borden.
Notes:
About PV
PV (Photovoltaic) is best known as a method for generating electric power by using solar cells to convert energy from the sun into electricity. Photovoltaic production has been increasing by an average of more than 20 percent each year since 2002, making it the world’s fastest-growing energy technology.
At the end of 2009, the cumulative global PV installations have surpassed 21,000 megawatts. As of October 2009, the largest photovoltaic power plant in North America is the 25 MW DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Florida. The plant consists of over 90,000 solar panels.
About ICE Solar
ICE Solar Private Limited is a joint venture between MSM Energy, USA and American Capital Energy, USA. The objective of ICE Solar is to bring advanced engineering expertise in the solar industry and provide such facilities in India which are in initial stage of a PV Explosion that would be unfolding during the next few years. ICE Solar is considered to be the first ever EPC company in India with proven experience and expertise in large scale commercial & utility scale solar PV. Its principal, ACE, has implemented over 35 PV power plants in USA including largest roof-top utility scale PV power plant which is 2.35MW capacity and has been operating successfully since the beginning of 2009.
ICE Solar will take single point responsibility right from techno-commercial feasibility analysis to design, engineering, construction, commissioning and maintenance of PV systems. ICE Solar would uniquely provide “energy production guarantees”. Production guarantees provide a major reassurance to investors since they know profitability is assured.
Source: India PRwire, June 11, 2010.
