GEDCOL seeks land transfer for 20 Mw solar plant

Solar project coming up at Rengali near Sambalpur. A total of 148.77 acres of contiguous land has been identified

Green Energy Development Corporation Ltd (GEDCOL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC), has sought approval of the state government for transfer of land for its 20 Mw solar photo voltaic (PV) project.

The solar project is coming up at Rengali near Sambalpur. A total of 148.77 acres of contiguous land has been identified. The land patch belongs to the erstwhile irrigation and power department.

GEDCOL has requested for a transfer in land ownership in favour of GEDCOL before September 25, 2014 failing which performance security of Rs 6 crore will be forfeited.

GEDCOL has planned to go for solar PV generation of 20-40 Mw for which it has already held two rounds of discussions with Gridco, the bulk power purchaser. GEDCOL is also setting up 50 Mw solar power project at Manmunda in Boudh district. Around 250 acres of land will be needed to set up the project. The project will cost Rs 400 crore.

The state government expects to float tenders for new solar power capacity of 48 Mw.

Presently, on-grid solar power projects with a total capacity of 13 Mw are operational in the state. According to Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) fixed for 2013-14 by power regulator Odisa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC), Gridco has to buy six per cent of its energy from renewable sources out of which 0.20 per cent has to be from solar power.

Gridco has signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) for eight solar photovoltaic (PV) projects of 1 Mw under Roof Top PV and Small Solar Power Generation Programme (RPSSGP) scheme.