Italian renewable energy company Enel Green Power (EGP) announced that it has entered into a long-term, joint investment partnership with Norwegian private equity fund Norfund to set up renewable energy projects in India.

EGP said it would jointly finance, build, and operate new renewable projects in India with Norfund through its Indian subsidiary – Enel Green Power India (EGP India).

According to Enel, the agreement will be a collaborative investment framework under which its Indian wing will develop and construct the projects. Meanwhile, Norfund will invest in the projects upon a specific stage of completion and become an equity partner in it along with EGP India.

“This agreement gives us the opportunity to expand and strengthen our presence in India, after recently scoring our first win in a solar tender in the country,” said Antonio Cammisecra, CEO of Enel Green Power.

Recently Avikaran Surya India Private Limited (Enel Green Power) quoted the second-lowest tariff of ₹2.37 (~$0.0314)/kWh in the Solar Energy Corporation of India’s (SECI) auction for 2 GW of the interstate transmission system (ISTS) connected solar projects (Tranche IX). This auction saw a record-low bid of ₹2.36 (~$0.0313)/kWh, the lowest since July 2018.

Enel noted that it was recently awarded the right to sign a 25-year energy supply contract for the 300 MW (420 MW DC) solar project in Rajasthan, which will be the company’s first solar project in the country.

According to the company’s press statement, EGP India owns and operates 172 MW of wind capacity producing around 320 GW per year in Gujarat and Maharashtra.

In 2018, Enel Green Power started the construction of a 34 MW grid-connected solar facility, Ngonye solar PV project, located in southern Zambia.

Previously, Mercom reported that Norfund, African Development Bank, the European Commission, KfW, the Clean Technology Fund, among others pledged $160 million (~₹11.84 billion) for the Facility of Energy Inclusion to improve energy access in Africa by using small scale renewable projects and mini-grid projects.