SAN FRANCISCO, March 08, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ahana Renewables, a subsidiary of ATN (NASDAQ:ATNI), today announced that it has purchased the development business of Armstrong Energy Global (“Armstrong”), a developer, builder, and owner of solar farms in India. Ahana has retained the Armstrong management team to oversee the development, construction and operation of solar energy projects in Southern India through a newly-established company, Vibrant Energy Holdings (“Vibrant Energy”), that will be an Ahana subsidiary.
“Ahana Renewables is building upon the foundation of high quality commercial solar projects that it has developed in the US to enter India to expand both our geographic footprint and customer base,” said Managing Director Marvin Tien. “By partnering with the Armstrong management team, known for its trailblazing history of early-to-market success in the United Kingdom’s renewables sector, we hope to transport our respective successes in the US and the UK to a successful venture in India.”
“Our large development pipeline of solar projects in India and dedicated local team combined with Ahana’s experience and financial resources will enable us to meet our goal of delivering hundreds of megawatts of clean, reliable electricity to customers in a country where supply can still be unreliable. We believe India is today the most exciting country in the world for solar power, and we don’t think we could have found a better partner than Ahana to meet this market opportunity,” said Dr. Ramnath Nandakumar, Managing Director of Armstrong.
Vibrant Energy has an initial pipeline of approximately 50 MW photovoltaic solar facilities ready for construction in the next six to nine months, and is targeting a total of 250-350 MW in solar energy projects in India through 2018. Customers for the initial projects are private commercial and industrial enterprises and Vibrant Energy will continue to target this customer segment as it builds new solar facilities, currently focused on the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Telangana. The Company expects to fund the acquisition, operating costs and the development and construction of this pipeline with an initial capital investment of approximately $50 million to $100 million, complemented by debt and other funding under discussion with numerous institutions.
This investment marks Ahana’s entry into India’s growing renewable energy market, which seeks to address the high demand for energy created by the country’s fast growing economy and deficits in traditional energy sources. “We believe this is an attractive location for long-term solar investment,” said Managing Director Jason Tai, “In addition to India’s favorable climate conditions and unmet energy needs, solar energy development costs in many regions of India has reached grid parity, providing an opportunity for attractive investment returns without reliance on direct government subsidy. We believe the economic argument in favor of solar will only improve in the future as equipment costs continue to fall. This new partnership will allow us to deliver clean power to the growing commercial sector, strengthening the regional economy, and generating permanent local job opportunities.”
More information on the Indian energy market is available at Ahana’s website at ir.atni.com.
About Ahana Renewables
Ahana Renewables, a subsidiary of Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc., is a specialized investment firm focused on alternative energy and long-lived real assets. The company brings its experience to various infrastructure asset classes, capitalizing on bankable technology and strong project fundamentals. Ahana Renewables’ core expertise lies in deal sourcing, public/private contract negotiations and financial structuring to take controlling, owner/operator positions in projects and portfolios. Headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Massachusetts and New York, the company currently operates a distributed solar portfolio with electric production capacity of 47 megawatts. More information is available at www.ahanarenewables.com.
About Armstrong Energy Global
Armstrong Energy Global Limited (“Armstrong”) is a UK headquartered solar energy company established in 2014 to provide clean electricity to meet India’s pressing need for new energy generation capacity. Founded by the management team behind Armstrong Energy Limited, a UK investment firm, Armstrong is comprised of a team of experienced investment professionals with a strong track record of funding and building on renewable energy projects in the UK and overseas.