Cargill, a U.S.-based global food corporation, announced a joint venture with CleanMax, an Indian rooftop solar developer, to set up wind and solar hybrid power park in Karnataka.

According to CleanMax, the grid-connected hybrid power park project will have approximately 15 MW capacity. The new project is expected to meet 70-80% of electricity need sat Cargill’s facility in Davangere, Karnataka, according to the company’s press release. The hybrid power park could help avoid around 29,865 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, the company added.

“This is a captive project, with Cargill holding 26% of the project equity and CleanMax the remainder. The power is being supplied to Cargill under a long-term contract. The project itself is already operational and is located near Chitradurga,” said, Andrew Hines, Co-founder and Chief Commerical Officer at CleanMax.

Cargill said it aims to reduce 10% of its overall greenhouse gas emissions from its operation before 2025 through these projects, against a baseline of 2017. The company said it is currently using 15 different sources of renewable energy across its various facilities around the world.

According to the press release, the project is part of Cargill’s ten new global projects to expand its global renewable energy portfolio. All the projects will be operational in the next year. The other global projects will be set-up in America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

“To help us meet our climate commitments, we’re focused on operating more efficiently, pursuing emissions-reducing technology and investing in renewable energy to power our operations or offset our emissions,” said Jill Kolling, Vice President of Sustainability at Cargill.

According to Mercom, CleanMax has a total rooftop solar operating capacity of over 220 MW, according to the company’s website. It also operates over 380 MW of large-scale solar farms in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for supply to its corporate customers.

Earlier, CleanMax said it initiated the process of setting up 150 MW of solar group captive projects to supply power to corporates in the state of Haryana.

Mercom previously reported that CleanMax secured a $10 million credit facility from the Global Climate Partnership Fund (GCPF) to expand operations for the rooftop solar business in South Asia.

Harsh Shukla is a staff reporter at Mercom India. Previously with Indian Express, he has covered general interest stories. He holds a Masters Degree in Journalism from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune.

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