Greentech Lead India: The Karnataka state Government is
planning to create a 4,000 acre solar park in Bijapur district.
The solar park will come up in Mannur. It will be similar
to the solar farm at Charanka in Gujarat.
The Government has set a target of 18 months to complete
the solar farm and will start with small capacities of 80-100 MW, and gradually
increase capacity, according to a report in Hindu BusinessLine.
“The idea of having a solar park is to see that private
players will be facilitated in implementation of projects – basic
infrastructure like power evacuation support, water and roads will be
provided,” said NS Prasanna Kumar, managing director of Karnataka Renewable
Energy Development.
KREDL, the state nodal agency for promoting renewable
energy in the State, will be involved in allotting projects at the park and
facilitate implementation of projects.
Most projects that will come up there would be of private
developers. The park will have solar photovoltaic projects.
Recently, KREDL announced the winners of the bids for the
first phase of the Karnataka Solar Mission. Some of these projects would come
up in the park.
The Karnataka state also received about 500 MW worth
applications to set up projects under the REC (Renewable Energy Certificates)
mechanism and some of these projects will also come up in the park.
KREDL called for applications under the REC scheme, where
producers of renewable energy who opt out of the preferential feed-in tariff,
get tradable certificates.
The certificates could be bought by specified ‘obligated
entities’ – who are either specified consumers or electricity distribution
companies.
Under the Karnataka Renewable Energy Policy 2009-14, the
State plans to add about 4,300 MW and proposes to bring in Rs 23,890 crore of
investments.