South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL), a coal-producing subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, is planning to develop rooftop and ground mounted solar power projects of 600 MW capacity in the coming years, the Ministry of Coal said in a release. The project is in line with the company’s strategy to expand and diversify its business and achieve the ‘Net Zero Energy’ goal and with the larger goal of ‘Panchamrit’ announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at CoP-26 to achieve Net Zero Emissions by 2070.
The SECL project is expected to be developed at a cost of more than Rs 1000 crore. “Some of these projects would be implemented in RESCO (Renewable Energy Service Company)/BOO (Build-Own-Operate) mode,” the ministry said.
SECL already has solar power projects of more than 180 MW in various phases of development spread over Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and it has recently commissioned rooftop solar projects of 580 kWp capacity in Johilla, Jamuna-Kotma and Kusmunda Areas. At Johilla Area, the commissioned capacity is about 280 kWp which is the highest capacity rooftop solar project in the entire company. The project will generate about 4,20,000 units of electricity saving about Rs 21 lakh annually in power expenditure. The largest two solar projects under implementation are of 40 MW capacity each.
Coal India Ltd has set a target of achieving net-zero status by installing 3000 MW capacity renewable energy projects by 2026. Coal India recently also partnered with Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) to explore potential sites for pumped storage power (PSP) projects within its abandoned mines.
SECL has contributed to around one-fourth of CIL’s total coal production in FY 2022-23. The company is working towards reducing the carbon footprint of coal mining and moving towards the goal of net zero carbon emissions.