Mukesh Ambani controlled Reliance Industries Ltd is set to enter the renewable energy business even as Anil Ambani controlled Reliance Energy Ltd (REL) has announced its intention of generating power from renewables.

To start with, Reliance Industries has decided to set up a 10mw solar plant in West Bengal and sought the help of the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA).

WBREDA director SP Gon Chaudhuri said that Reliance Industries had approached him in July and after a series of discussions decided to start by setting up a 10mw solar unit in West Bengal. Although the company did not commit any investment, it has started scouting for land in the state.

“Purulia is likely to be the place where it would set up its solar plant,” Gon Chaudhuri said.

Moser Baer Photo Voltaic, a 100% subsidiary of Moser Baer India, has submitted a demonstration project to WBREDA to make solar power from concentrated solar cells. The company has submitted the demonstration project in Karnataka and Jammu & Kashmir as well.

He said the Reliance plant in West Bengal is like an experimental project but their plan is to make big investments in Rajasthan and Maharastra for making solar power there. “West Bengal has a well set regulatory frame work for renewable energy and by the time the project comes up there will be preferential tariff in place too for solar power,” Gon Chaudhuri said.

The West Bengal State Electricity Regulatory Commission has recently announced preferential tariff for power from biomass, hydro and wind, which are Rs 3.35, Rs3.60 and Rs 4.00 respectively. The Regulatory Commission is likely to announce the tariffs for solar, bio-gas and municipal solid waste power next month.

Gon Chaudhuri said the tariff for biomass and hydro power are at par with other states but the tariff for wind power in West Bengal is higher than other states.

Around 200mw green power to be produced by 32 companies would be pushed to the grid. WBREDA has facilitated power purchase agreements with utilities like West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company, CESC Ltd and Durgapur Projects Ltd, which would draw the power from the producers.

Gon Chaudhuri said all the distribution utilities in West Bengal put together purchase an average of 30 million units every year, of which 2% should be green power. West Bengal would award green power projects only up to a capacity that would make 2% of the total power purchase of the state’s distribution companies currently.

Of the 200mw, 15mw has already been pushed to the grid and another 25mw would be pushed in January 2008.