Now, solar power plant on Narmada branch canal near Sanand

Better known as the new home to Tata Nano project and an emerging auto-hub of Gujarat with Ford India deciding to park its second plant, Sanand seems to be also gaining preference for unique projects. Even as plans are afoot to develop the exact replicas of 'Seven Wonders of the World" in the area, the erstwhile sleepy town is now gearing up to house yet another first-of-its-kind project - a solar power plant to be built on Narmada branch canal passing through Sanand.

As part of a novel concept mooted by the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, the Gujarat government has decided to install solar power panels on one km stretch of Narmada branch canal near Sanand.

"To be developed on public private partnership (PPP) model, the solar plant on Narmada branch canal would generate one Mw of power, once fully operational," said a top government official.

Interestingly, the solar project is expected to save 100,000 litres of water a year by reducing evaporation of canal water in that particular stretch of one km. The entire stretch would be covered by solar panels, thereby reducing evaporation of water.

As per the industry estimates, a 1 Mw solar power project roughly requires five acres of land. "Installation of solar panels on river canals would also take care of land issue for solar power project," the government official added. The state government has already roped in one of the leading companies in solar energy space. SunEdison, a subsidiary of US-based global solar energy player MEMC, will be executing the project near Sanand. "This is for the first time such a project is being developed in India," said a senior official of SunEdison.

The state government has already cleared the project and a new company is being floated to develop the project. "There are different concepts being developed for solar power generation. Developing a solar power generation facility on the water canals is one of such concepts. But for any such effort, first of all a feasibility study needs to be carried out as it is entirely a different ball-game than the existing projects being developed in India," says Pranav Mehta, founder chairman of Solar Energy Association

It may be mentioned here that Narendra Modi-led BJP government in Gujarat has been pro-actively promoting power generation through renewable energy sources, especially solar and wind. This could be gauged from the fact that the state government has entered into a power purchase agreements (PPAs) with 80 national and international solar power project developers for 958 Mw.

The state is mulling to set up country's largest grid-connected solar power park near Patan in North Gujarat. Companies such as Adani Group, Tata Group, NTPC, Sun Edison, GMR Energy, Abellon Clean Energy, Kiran Energy, Enam Infrastructure, Electrotherm Renewables, Mahindra Solar among others are eyeing Gujarat for setting up Solar power projects.

With a view to attracting project developers to set up solar power projects in the state, Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC), the state power regulator, has fixed a tariff of Rs 15 per unit for power to be purchased from solar photovoltaic generators, while it has pegged a tariff of Rs 11 per unit for solar thermal power.

These tariffs are for initial 12 years. After that the generators will have to sell power generated from solar photovoltaic and thermal solar projects at Rs 5 and Rs 4 per unit respectively.