Indian solar power company Welspun Renewables has commissioned a 52 megawatt DC solar photovoltaic project at Baramati in Maharashtra.
The project has been developed under public-private partnership with Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (MSPGC). And the state-run utility has partly financed and designed the project, besides commissioning it.
Annual output from the project is expected to meet the average power requirements of 240,000 households and would be equivalent to taking 83,220 tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
The Baramati project is the second solar project that Welspun has developed in Maharashtra. Its maiden venture in the state was a 22-MW DC project in Solapur.
Welspun signed an MoU with Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) keeping with which it developed the project that was to sell its output for supply to Mumbai city.
“Leading financial institutions have committed to long-term project funding of Rs 135 crore, with debt and equity elements sourced in the ratio 75:25,” the company website states.
Solapur being the richest in insolation in the region helps the project generate 28 million units of clean energy to the state.
“This project will address Maharashtra’s annual peak deficit of 14.8 percent and will generate enough energy to power 96,000 households and mitigating 33,282 tons of carbon emissions annually,” the company website claims.
Besides Maharashtra, the footprint of Welspun Renewables extends over 10 states in India. And the company is targeting the commissioning of 1 GW capacity within this year. All Welspun projects till date are covered by 25-year power purchase agreements.
Maharashtra itself should see greater deployment of solar power projects as it works to achieve the target to develop 14.4 gigawatts of renewable energy projects by 2020. The state has already set aside 7.5 gigawatts for solar power project development.
Recently Maharashtra announced its new renewable energy policy and has introduced a slew of sops for development of six categories of renewable energy projects.
The state has included the likes of industrial waste among the renewable sources for power generation.
Earlier, the central government had advised the state to set itself renewable energy target of 25 gigawatts by 2020. But the state could not consider the option as the state would be producing surplus of electricity which was beyond the buying capacity of distribution companies in the existing conditions.
The state is abundant in solar energy resources and has the potential for greater deployment of solar energy parks.
Ajith Kumar S