IFC, Yes Bank to lend $ 150 million to Continuum Wind Energy

MUMBAI: Continuum Wind Energy, in which Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners owns a majority stake, would receive a $ 150-million loan from two lenders for a 170-MW project in Madhya Pradesh.

World Bank Group member International Finance Corporation (IFC) said it would lend $ 50 million and has helped arrange an additional $ 100-million loan from private sector lender Yes Bank for the wind power plant in Madhya Pradesh.

The World Bank Group's impact investment and lending body would lend to two wholly-owned subsidiaries of the company to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, IFC said in a statement.

The project would generate 330 gigawatt of power annually to reach 300,000 people and also help avoid nearly 270,000 tonne of carbon dioxide emissions per year, it said.

The city-based Continuum Wind Energy which was started in 2009, has achieved an aggregate operating capacity of about 150 MW, while 260 MW is under construction and about 580 MW is in development.

The IFC statement said that 300 million people in the country do not have access to electricity, while peak hour shortages of electricity vary between nine per cent and 13 per cent due to low generating capacity.

It cited a government target to generate 15 per cent of the total power through renewable sources and added that IFC has a renewable energy portfolio of $ 340 million in the country.

"IFC's investment in renewable energy in India will balance the country's energy mix and improve its energy security," IFC's Regional Director for South Asia Serge Devieux said.