At least two venture firms think the independent power producer model for renewable energy has promise in India, the world’s second most populated nation. This model, in which a company owns, builds, and operates power generation for a customer, has become increasingly popular in the United States, led by such companies as Mill Valley, Calif.-based Solar Power Partners and Baltimore, Maryland’s MMA Renewables.
Energy startup AzurePower believes it can do the same in India. The company, based in Delhi, announced on Tuesday that it has raised an undisclosed amount in a first round of funding led by Helion Ventures and Foundation Capital.
The startup is focused on commercial, government, and utility customers. Like other independent power producers, the company agrees to finance, operate, and maintain a power facility in exchange for a customer agreeing to purchase that power over a set amount of time at arranged prices.
Proponents say this is attractive to customers because they don’t need the upfront capital to build a power plant or the in-house expertise to run and maintain it.
The funding announcement comes as the Indian government, through the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, has offered incentives to boost the production of solar power.
AzurePower has been short-listed to deliver a 17 megawatt solar project in Punjab and was selected to build and operate a 2 megawatt solar project in Haryana.