BLP Wind Project (Amberi) Private Limited

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BLP Wind Project (Amberi) Private Limited, a subsidiary of Bharat Light and Power Private Limited,entered into an agreement with Maharashtra Government to develop a 26.2MW wind farm at Satara and Sangli Districts in Maharashtra. The windfarm would involve the building of 20 AE59 wind turbines of 800kW and 12 G58 units of 850kW capacity each. The windfarm was designed at a load factor of 20%. The electricity generated from the project would be evacuated to Northern, Eastern, Western and North-Eastern grid of India. Gamesa Wind Turbines Private Limited was the technology supplier and also had been contracted to develop, construct, commission, operate and maintain the project in December 2011. BLP Wind Project (Amberi) Private Limited was expected to sell the entire power from the windfarm to Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) through a 13-year PPA.The APPC (Average Power Purchase Cost) base tariff as per MERC tariff order (dated 29 April 2011 for Wind zone 1) was US$ 0.10/Unit (INR 5.37 per unit @53.44 INR/USD) for the first 13 years of operation. The transmission charges would be paid by BLP Wind to the state transmission utility. The total capacity of 26.2MW was eligible for generation based incentive (GBI) as per CERC guidleines and CDM benefits under UNFCC and was currently undergoing the validation process. Dates of financial closure couldn't be ascertained at the time of collection of this information. UNFCC documents however indicate a loan agreement had been signed and the project cost was estimated as US$ 33.2mn (INR 1773.1mn @53.44 INR/USD). The debt equity ratio was 67.5/32.5. Financing comprised a term loan of US$ 22.4mn (INR 1197mn) and sponsor equity of US$ 10.8mn (INR 576.2mn). The term loan had a tenure of 11.75 years with a payment moratorium of 0.75 years. The term loan was prices at 12.9%. Construction started in December 2011 and as per company sources, was progressively commissioned through March to June 2012. In the absence of loan sanction information, for our records we have considered March 2012 as the financial closure date.