Husk Power Systems secures $4 million from IREDA to build 140 solar microgrids in India.

Husk Power Systems, the rural clean energy services provider in Africa and Asia, recently announced the successful close of a Rs. 310 million ($4.2 million) debt financing from the India Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) Ltd.

The company, which operates the largest fleet of solar energy community microgrids in India, plans to raise an additional $18 million in debt in 2022 to fuel accelerated project deployment, while also kicking off fundraising for a Series D equity round in the first quarter.

The company has built a project pipeline in both India and Africa, and expects to have about 1,300 grids in operation by 2025 across multiple markets. It said the new India debt is part of a line of credit provided by German development bank KfW to IREDA to assist developers in scaling off-grid energy projects.

It will be used to finance 140 microgrids in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where Husk has been serving rural communities since 2008, including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

The IREDA loan to Husk represents the biggest debt financing for rural microgrids in India to date. "The IREDA funding will give Husk a much-needed boost to achieve our target of expanding our microgrid fleet 10 times by 2025," said Husk CEO and Co-Founder Manoj Sinha.

Husk recently signed an Energy Compact with the United Nations, committing to build 5,000 microgrids with 1 million connections by 2030 in India, Nigeria and other countries in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

ET