Public sector Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) will be setting up grid connected Solar PV projects across Chhattisgarh, on “Build Own Operate” basis for an aggregate capacity of 100 MW under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNUSM), officials informed.
SECI which is under the administrative control of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will enter into Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the bidders for purchase of supply of solar power for a period of 25 years.
Notably, JNNUSM is a major initiative of the Government of India with active participation from States to promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing India’s energy security challenge. It will also constitute a major contribution by India to the global effort to meet the challenges of climate change.
The objective of the Mission is to establish India as a global leader in solar energy by creating the policy conditions for its large scale diffusion across the country as quickly as possible. The Mission had set a target, amongst others, for deployment of grid connected solar power capacity of 1,00,000 MW by 2022.
On the other hand, the Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) will be setting up 500 MW capacity solar parks in the State.
A detailed study of solar radiation resource assessment would be carried out with other climatic factors such as temperature, wind velocity, precipitation, officials stated.
Site accessibility details,through Rail / Road / Air would also be carried out.
A detailed study of solar radiation resource assessment would be carried out with other climatic factors such as temperature, wind velocity, precipitation, officials stated.
Notably, Chhattisgarh has achieved total commissioned grid connected solar power capacity of 73.18 MW as on January 14, 2016, the Central government has informed.
Compared to this, neighbouring Madhya Pradesh achieved the grid connected solar power capacity of 678.58 MW during the same period.
The installed capacity of solar power in India has now crossed the milestone of 5,000 MW. The cumulative installed capacity has reached to 5,130 MW with installed capacity of 1385 MW in the current financial year.
Rajasthan stands 1st in the country with 1264 MW, followed by Gujarat (1024MW), Madhya Pradesh (679 MW), Tamil Nadu (419 MW), Maharashtra (379 MW) and Andhra Pradesh (357 MW).
The Central Government has set the ambitious target of generating 100 GW of solar power by the year 2021-22 under the National Solar Mission. It is envisaged to generate 60 GW ground mounted grid-connected solar power and 40 GW through roof-top grid interactive solar power to fulfill the 100 GW of solar power, officials stated.
The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has also fixed year-wise targets to monitor the solar power generation in the country. The target for the current year is 2,000 MW and next year target is 12,000 MW. The Ministry is putting all efforts through various schemes of Central Government and State Governments to achieve the targets. It has been planned that around 18,000 MW tender should be out by March 31, 2016, officials stated.
To achieve above stated objective, the Ministry has initiated several projects like Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects; Scheme for Development of Solar PV Power Plants on Canal Banks/ Canal Tops; Scheme for setting up 300 MW of Grid connected Solar PV Power Projects by Defense Establishments under Ministry of Defense and Para Military Forces with viability Gap Funding; Scheme of setting up 1000 MW of Grid- Connected Solar PV Power Projects by CPSUs with Viability Gap Funding ; Scheme for Setting up of 15000 MW of Grid connected to achieve this target.
Solar PV Power Projects by NTPC/NVVN; Setting up of 2000 MW Grid connected solar power with Viability Gap Funding through Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). This apart, an ambitious scheme has been launched by MNRE for roof-top solar installation. Various state governments are coming up with solar power projects under their own policies.
Notably, Chhattisgarh is among 10 other states in the country which will participate in a joint initiative with the Central government for creating a cost-effective power generation infrastructure which is sustainable and inclusive of clean energy solutions, officials stated.
The Central government has also taken up a joint initiative for preparation of State specific documents for ensuring 24X7 power supply for All. Documents for 10 States namely Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Goa, Jharkhand, Assam , Telangana , Bihar , Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh have already been signed, they stated.
The preparation of documents for other States is proposed to completed by end of this month.
The Union Cabinet recently approved Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojna or UDAY to ease the financial crunch faced by power distribution companies. The scheme was launched to tackle debt of Rs 4.3 lakh crore on DISCOMs utilities besides measures to cut power thefts and align consumer tariff with cost of generating electricity.
UDAY assures the rise of vibrant and efficient DISCOMs through a permanent resolution of past as well as potential future issues of the sector. It empowers DISCOMs with the opportunity to break even in the next 2-3 years. This is through four initiatives of improving operational efficiencies of DISCOMs, reducing power costs, decreasing interest cost of DISCOMs and enforcing financial discipline on DISCOMs through alignment with State finances.
The scheme is getting great support from several states. Twelve states namely Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh , Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat , Haryana ,Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand have given their in-principle nod to join UDAY as on December 19, 2015, officials stated.