Energy component manufacturer AEG has been contracted by India-based Surana Ventures to provide electrical systems including inverters, monitoring and measuring equipment for a 5MW solar plant in Gujarath, west India. Since March, AEG has had orders in the country for projects with a combined capacity of 25MW.
Enrique de la Cruz, vice president of AEG's solar unit, said, 'India has officially embraced solar energy as it faces up to rising carbon emissions caused by its reliance on coal for power generation, but the driver is also the search for energy independence as India has few resources of its own to meet its rapidly growing economy. As the country announced a programme to reach 20GW generated by solar power by 2020 and was only equipped of 60MW in 2009, the potential is huge.'
In March, the company announced that sales in 2010 had decreased by a quarter due to falling demand in important regions such as the US and Europe. Rapidly expanding markets in China and India could hold the key for solar companies such as AEG that have recently experienced contraction. US supply chain producer Spire recently entered the market in India through the launch of a subsidiary in the country and Canadian Solar did the same by forming a partnership with Indian company Circus Solar Solutions.
India has an ambitious national strategy for solar power and it recently confirmed purchase power agreements for 35 new projects with a combined capacity of 615MW as the first step towards its target