IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is planning an investment of $10 million in the proposed projects of Sunborne Energy LLC, company involved in solar power production in India.
Sunborne is raising a total of $24.8 million at present, partly as equity ($18.9 million) and partly as Compulsorily Convertible Debentures ($5.9 million), to fund project development activities for its first few projects. IFC is proposing to participate in this through an investment of $4.1 million in equity and $5.9 million in quasi-equity instruments for its own account.
The total project cost is estimated at about $230 million of which $70 million is estimated as project equity and $160 million as long term debt, assuming Sunborne is able to develop and finance one 15 MW PV project and one 50 MW CSP project in the next 12 months, said a statement from IFC.
Currently, the major shareholders of Sunborne are General Catalyst (40% stake), Khosla Ventures (25% stake) and management (35% stake).
At present, the company has one greenfield 15 MW Photo Voltaic (PV) project under development in Gujarat and is following National Solar Mission (Central Government Scheme) procedures for securing allocation of additional solar power projects. It plans to have 700 MW of operating solar power generation capacity by 2017.
Sunborne Energy LLC was set up in 2008 by a team of professionals, with the backing of General Catalyst Partners and Khosla Ventures, to develop and operate solar power projects in India, mainly using solar thermal or CSP technology. Within CSP technologies, Sunborne plans to use parabolic trough technology for its initial greenfield projects targeted in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh which are conceived to be developed under state Government and Central Government schemes as applicable.
IFC is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in developing countries. IFC's investments climbed to a record $18 billion in fiscal 2010. IFC's held portfolio of $2.3 billion (as of June 2007) makes India IFC's third largest country of operations.
