LG joint venture to deliver 500MW of capacity

Russia Swiss-Russian company Avelar Energy, part of Russian state-owned industrial group Renova, and LG CNS, a subsidiary of South Korean electronics giant LG Electronics, have signed an agreement for the creation of a joint venture company that aims to develop 500 MW of large-scale PV projects in Russia by 2020. The two companies will initially invest a total of €250 million ($336 million) to build 99 MW of PV power plants. The plants will be built in the Altai Republic, the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Orenburg region and the Rostov region, as well as in other unidentified regions. In early September,

Avelar and LG CNS announced they were planning 12 PV power projects with a combined capacity of 120 MW in Russia. The projects will have a capacity of 10 MW each, will require a global investment of $400 million and will be developed between 2014 and 2016. Six of the power plants will be installed in the Orenburg region, near the border with Kazakhstan, while the Altai Republic, in central-southern Russia, and the Republic of Bashkortostan, near the Ural Mountains, will host two and four PV projects, respectively. LG CNS will design and build the projects. At the time, it was reported that LG CNS could acquire stakes in the special purpose companies set up to develop the plants.

The Russian government recently introduced a renewable energy incentive program that targets nearly 6 GW of new renewable energy capacity by 2020. The program has a financial cap of 85 billion RUB ($2.7 billion) and targets 2 GW of solar capacity by 2020. The program has a domestic content requirement, and projects will be prioritized based on this requirement. The program is based on power purchase agreements.