India 15 November 2016: Lightsource Renewable Energy - one of the largest solar PV energy generators globally - today announced the appointment of Mr. Rupesh Agarwal as Managing Director for its India operations. Mr. Agarwal has been associated with marquee advisories that led to the rise of renewable energy IPPs in India and was the recipient of the Australian Leadership Award for Clean energy. He had earlier helped set up and lead the Cleantech practice at EY India and was an Endeavour Ambassador appointed by the Australian High Commissioner to India.
In the last 5 years Lightsource has deployed over 2 billion pounds to develop and operate ~ 1300 MW of solar PV plants in the United Kingdom. The company has a number of firsts to its credits such as the Thames Water 6.5MW plant, the world's first deep water floating solar PV installation or the first large scale solar plant in the island of Ireland, installed in the Belfast International Airport, that saves over 2345 tonnes of carbon per year.
Commenting on the appointment, Nick Boyle, Lightsource CEO, said: "We are excited to have Rupesh on board and believe that Lightsource will contribute significantly towards India's targets of 100 GW solar by 2022."
Confirming his role Mr Agarwal said "The Indian Government has set ambitious targets for solar energy, smart solutions and reducing the carbon foot print and we look forward to building a next generation utility company in India".
Lightsource recently won a 50 MW solar project in Maharashtra under the government of India's ambitious solar program. This is the maiden solar project secured by the company in India and the company is looking at developing 1000 MW over the next 2~3 years.