First Solar plans to set up dedicated power plants for industrial use

Two solar power plants of 20 Mw and 25 Mw capacity will be be operational by June

US-based solar power projects developer, First Solar, is planning to set up dedicated solar power plants in India for industries and commercial outfits, which would like to meet part of their electricity requirement through renewable energy sources.

“We are talking to many industrial and commercial establishments in this regard,” First Solar country head, Sujoy Ghosh, told Business Standard, adding the company envisaged a good opportunity in this segment.

“India has lots of companies like Microsoft and Cisco, which globally do procure renewable power. Several Indian IT and pharmaceutical companies also want to source a part of their energy requirements through solar power,” he said explaining the potential for dedicated solar power plants.

In this context, he pointed out the company was developing a solar plant to supply 130 Mw exclusively to the corporate office of Apple Inc in California. Apple had reported to have committed $848 million to buying power from it for the next 25 years.

According to Ghosh, industries which have opted for express feeders can have such dedicated solar power plants to secure uninterrupted power supply. The advantage of utilising solar power is that the tariff rates can be fixed for a long-term.

Stating that First Solar would set up 5,000 Mw of green energy projects in India by 2019, he said it was currently establishing 200 Mw of solar power projects in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Already, he said, power purchase agreements (PPAs) with distribution companies had been signed for supply of 80 Mw in AP and 45 Mw in Telangana. PPAs for supply of an additional power of 75 Mw in Telangana “are expected to signed anytime.” While tariff rate in AP has been fixed at Rs 5.30 per Kwh (kilowatt hour) with 3 per cent annual escalation for 10 years, the tariff in Telangana for 45 Mw has been fixed at 6.49 per Kwh for a period of 25 years.

Two solar power plants of 20 Mw and 25 Mw capacity, being set up at Marikel and Polepally in Mahabubnagar district,would be operational by June this year. The average investment for setting up solar power plants would be Rs 6.5 crore per Mw.

At present, Ghosh said, First Solar had a 20 per cent share in solar power market in India. The combined capacity of all solar power plants in the country stands at around 3,000 Mw.