India's largest solar power plant starts production in Rajasthan

[ejazr]

India's largest solar power plant starts production - Times Of India

JODHPUR: In what can be termed as a major leap towards solar power generation in western Rajasthan, the country's largest solar power plant with an installed capacity of 40 MW started producing electricity from Saturday.

Minister for new and renewable energy Farooq Abdullah, chief minister Ashok Gehlot and energy minister Jitendra Singh inaugurated the 40 MW photovoltaic solar plant installed by Reliance Power at Pokhran in Jaisalmer district.

Chairman of Reliance Power Anil Ambani was also present on the occasion.

On the occasion, Abdullah said the target is to produce 20,000 MW of solar power in the country by 2022.

He appreciated the state government for its solar energy policy and expressed hope that Rajasthan will exceed the national projection.

While expressing his gratitude to Anil Ambani for setting up the plant, Gehlot said the state government is committed to achieve its 300 MW target of installed power generation capacity in two years.

He said, "I am happy that Rajasthan is pioneering this phenomenon with a total investment of Rs 160 billion."

"We are trying to set up a Solar Energy Park here and have created an atmosphere conducive to shoulder this commitment," he added.

Rajasthan energy minister Jitendra Singh said a similar leap has been taken by the state in wind power generation.

"State has started producing 1,900 MW wind energy," he said, adding that the state is set for a major national energy revolution through generation of power from alternative sources, which fortunately, are abundant here.

 

[ejazr]

Reliance Power plans over Rs 6,000 crore investment in Rajasthan - Economic Times

DHURSAR (RAJASTHAN): Reliance Power plans to invest more than Rs 6,000 crore for solar power generation projects in Rajasthan in the next two years, its Chairman has said.

Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Power commissioned a 40 mega watt solar power plant in Rajasthan, which is the country's largest solar project so far. Another 100 mega watt capacity would be added at the site in the next one year.

"Based on futuristic policy of the Government of India as well as the Government of Rajasthan, we hope to double the capacity to 300 Mega watt in the next 24 months. This would mean our investment at this location would exceed Rs 6,000 crore," Anil Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Power, said after the commissioning of the 40 mega watt plant here on Saturday.

The 40 mega watt plant has been set up at an investment of about Rs 700 crore. The long term power purchase agreement for the project has been signed with Reliance Infrastructure and the power generated would be used for Mumbai. The project would generate more than 70 million units of clean power.

The project is financed with a debt equity ratio of 75:25. While Reliance Power has put in the entire equity, the debt have been provided by the US Exim Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

"Our Dhursar plant demonstrates the huge potential of solar energy to help India meet its growing energy needs in the most environmentally friendly manner. Reliance Power's vision is to become India's largest green power company and the commissioning of this solar project is the first major step in that direction," he said.

The commissioning of the 40 mega watt plant was done in the presence of Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

Further, the company is developing a 100 mega watt solar thermal plant at the same site as part of national solar mission.

The two projects would require an investment of about Rs 2,800 crore, which is the largest investment in solar power at a single location, according to the company.

"We now have set our ambition that in the next 365 days, probably on the same day next year, we would have added another 100 mega watt at this site," Ambani said.

 

[Ray]

A good start.

I hope more of such projects come up in the future.

It is time to encourage households to use solar cookers. It will save precious LPG and will be environmentally friendly.