July 25, 2020 by Smiti
India witnessed an increase in announcements of renewable energy projects in recent weeks. States have made several announcements to develop solar parks and floating solar plants to meet the country’s ambitious goal of installing 175 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2022.
600 Megawatt Capacity Solar Parks Advertised in Punjab
The Punjab government is expected to develop three 200-megawatt capacity solar parks in the state’s Mohali and Rupnagar districts. Is ad It was done by Minister Manish Tewari and revealed that the deputy commissioners for the Mohali and Rupnagar districts were asked to identify the land for the solar parks.
The minister also added that he received confirmation from the state government that the process will continue after the completion of the land. The state’s nodal agency, that is, the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), will draw up the plan for the development of solar parks under discussion with the Union’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). The establishment of the parks is expected to attract private investment of more than Rs 10 billion ($ 1.3 billion).
602 megawatt capacity solar parks announced in Maharashtra
Maharashtra state energy minister Nitin Raut has Announced that the state-owned Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (Mahagenco) has decided to build three 602-megawatt solar farms in the state.
The solar parks will be developed in three stages under an engineering, acquisition and construction (EPC) contract on the land owned by Mahagenco.
In the first stage, 187 megawatts of solar projects will be established in Kaudgaon, Latur, on the ground of the existing thermal power plant in the Bhusawal, Koradi, Parli and Nashik and Sakri districts. In the second stage, 390 megawatts of solar projects will be developed in the Washim, Yavatmal and Chandrapur districts. In the third stage, the balance of 25 megawatts of solar energy will be developed again in the Sakri district.
The funds for the development of projects in stages one and two will be through a loan from the German agency KfW and the infusion of capital by the state government, while for stage three, a lower interest internal loan will be taken apart from state government capital.
2,500 megawatt solar parks will be developed in the state of Maharashtra under the ultra mega renewable energy solar park scheme. The projects will be established through a joint venture (JVC) of NTPC and Mahagenco. Individual companies will have the opportunity to develop the projects based on their participation in JVC.
500 megawatt floating solar projects in Odisha
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed Between state hydroelectric giant NHPC with Odisha Limited’s Green Energy Development Corporation (GEDCOL) to form a joint venture (JV) to develop floating solar energy projects in Odisha state. The projects will have an aggregate capacity of 500 megawatts.
Both entities will collaborate to form a joint venture to explore, plan and develop floating solar projects in the various reservoirs of the state. Projects will be phased in, with a minimum capacity of 50 megawatts. The projects will be implemented under the Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks (UMREPP) scheme of the government of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
The development of floating solar plants would involve an investment of Rs. Rs 2.5 billion (US $ 332 million). The first phase of the project is expected to start in March 2022.
According to a report published by the Institute of Energy and Resources (TERI), Odisha has the potential to generate 177.55 gigawatts of solar energy from 877 square kilometers of accumulated area of reservoirs in the state.
Solar energy parks will play an important role if India comes close to its very ambitious goal of 100 gigawatts of solar energy capacity by 2022. Policy makers recognized this fact from the start. In 2015, the government approved 27 solar energy parks will be built throughout the country. These parks would have an installed capacity of 18.4 gigawatts. By 2017, however, this goal for bent at 40 gigawatts. In announcing big goals, the government has also taken steps to make investments in solar parks attractive. In 2019, the government announced several incentives for states and public sector companies to establish solar energy parks.
According to a recent report, the development of solar energy parks in India offers an investment opportunity of US $ 500-700 million. So far, the government has approved 26.5 gigawatts of solar power parks, and some individual parks are as large as 5 gigawatts.
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About the Author
Smiti works as a senior solar engineer at a renowned engineering and management consultancy. It has carried out due diligence on several photovoltaic solar energy projects in India and Southeast Asia. He has a great interest in renewable energy, green buildings, environmental sustainability and biofuels. He currently resides in New Delhi, India.
