The 50:50 JV is a step towatds sustainable energy generation at three of SAHMI's properties in India.

Hotel development and investment firm,
SAMHI Hotels has partnered with Statkraft BLP Solar Solutions (SBSS), a 50:50
JV between Bharat Light & Power Group and Statkraft as a step towards
sustainable energy generation at three of their properties in India. The 120-year-old,
USD 11 billion strong Norwegian utility Statkraft has joined forces with leading
Indian renewable company BLP, to contribute towards India’s ambitious plan of
100GW of solar installation. Statkraft has the technical and commercial
expertise by not only owning more than 18GW of renewable power but also operating
an 8 GW virtual power plant which optimizes the very small to large renewable
power generators.

BLP has already completed two rooftop Photovoltaic solar installations at Hyatt Place
Gurgaon and Formule1 Pimpri Pune that will save 1150 tons and 625 tons of carbon
emissions over their lifetime respectively. In addition, SAMHI has signed a 1.5MW
Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for 25 years with SBSS which will be supplied
from SBSS’ upcoming 4MW project in Karnataka, for its newly launched Courtyard
and Fairfield by Marriott Bangalore, and is expected to save an additional 42,750
tons of CO_2.

Acknowledging the growing importance of
energy efficiency in the hospitality industry, which has been considered an
energy guzzler, this pioneering effort focuses in widening the scope of
sustainability efforts.

“SAMHI has always advocated a
progressive, avant-garde approach to hospitality industry and as a responsible
corporation our initiative with Statkraft BLP Solar Solutions is a deliberate effort
to use renewable energy. With the installation of cutting-edge solar technology
and PPA with SBSS, we use alternative energy sources to both optimize operating
costs and run more environmentally sustainable operations,” said Vinay Gupta,
Vice President, SAMHI.

“A mix of in-campus rooftop projects and
off-campus ground mounted projects developed by us along with trading solutions
from Statkraft Markets enables companies transform their energy buying as it
provides more than 70 per cent of their
requirement from clean energy and also saves money as all this comes cheaper
than the Discom price. A credible counterparty like SBSS helps our clients
focus on their core business while we take care of their energy needs,” said
Pratyush Thakur, Chief Operating Officer, SBSS.

The Company, which has 16 operating
hotels across India and another 9 to open in next 12-15 months, is looking to
replace a significant part of its energy needs, from renewable sources making
its contribution towards India’s National Solar Mission for 2022 of reaching
100GW. However, current central and state legislations for open access
renewable energy leave limited opportunities for most of SAMHI hotels due to
minimum connection capacity of 1MW for open access approval. SAMHI and several
companies like it, look forward to state and Central government bodies to bring
this threshold down to 500 KW or lower for more active participation.

The PPA for its Bangalore hotels is
facilitated by policies of Karnataka government which has been at the forefront
of this initiative by improving predictability by removing Cross Subsidy
Surcharge, Open Access charge and transmission and wheeling charges and losses
for next 10 years. The Company hopes to see more in this direction from other
states in which it operates.

Photo: The Hyatt Place Gurgaon where BLP has already completed installation of rooftop Photovoltaic solar cells resulting in substantial energy savings.