West Bengal becomes the first state in India to implement a megawatt-level grid connected solar power project with the Centre providing assistance to offset the entire loan given by the Power Finance Corp (PFC).
West Bengal Green Energy Development Corp (WBDEDCL), a company formed by the West Bengal Power Development Corp, the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company and the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency, is implementing a 2mw solar photovoltaic project at Jamuria in Burdwan. It entails an investment of Rs 40 crore. While the PFC has extended a loan of Rs 30.9 crore, DPSC Ltd has provided a little over 8 acres for the project.
S Radhakrishnan, DPSC’s managing director, said the company has entered into a power purchase agreement with WBGEDCL and will buy the project’s entire generation of around 3 million units per year at a cost of Rs 5 a unit. This is much below the generation cost.
SP Gon Choudhuri, managing director of (WBGEDCL), said the ministry of new and renewable energy would pay a generation-based incentive of Rs 10 per unit for three years, which would offset the loan.
He said the project, to become operational from December 2008, would save 2000 kgs of carbon emission per hour, which would result in carbon credit earnings.
The foundation stone for the project was laid on Sunday in presence of Bengal power minister Mrinal Banerjee and Union new & renewable energy secretary V Subramanian.
Gon Choudhuri said West Bengal had started working on solar energy from 1983 with the first plant generating only of 30 watt. ?After two decades, we have been able to set up a solar power plant with a capacity of 2mw?.
He said states like Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat have shown interest in setting up similar projects. The state governments concerned have asked WBGEDCL to help them with the detailed project report of the Jamuria plant so that they could replicate it.”
Banerjee said the state had received a proposal for a 1,000 tonne per annum polysilicon plant, which can support generation of 1,200mw solar power.
Gon Choudhuri, who is optimistic about the future of green energy, said if we require 8 lakh mw by 2030, a maximum of 5-6 lakh mw would come from the conventional, nuclear and hydel sources. The rest would have to be green energy.
Subramanian said, although the cost of green power production was quite high now, it was expected to be at par with that of conventional energy by 2017.