Solar Energy Corporation allocates 50 Mw wind power capacity to Odisha

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has allocated 50 Megawatt (Mw) wind power capacity to Odisha to meet the state’s Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO) for promoting the renewable energy sector.

“Wind flow in Odisha is not feasible to produce power. In order to meet the RPO, Grid Corporation of Odisha had requested the Centre for allocation of the 50 Mw and the SECI has approved the allocation from Gujarat”, said an official.

The only cost added to it is power. Under a scheme of the SECI, all the other costs are waived off. The maximum possible price discovered is Rs 2.45 per kilowatt hour (KwH) excluding the trading margin, added the official.

The SECI’s trading margin will be Rs 0.07 KwH. Odisha has been a laggard compared to states such as Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat.

Even if Odisha sets a target of generating 200 Mw in its Renewable Energy policy 2016, not a single Mw of power has been generated yet from wind energy.

The state has the potential to generate 1700 Mw of wind energy. The potential sites identified are Gopalpur, Chatrapur, Puri, Paradeep, Balasore, and Damanjodi.
 

The SECI has formulated a scheme for setting up 2000 Mw wind power projects to help non-windy states comply with their non-solar RPOs. The procurement of wind power from these projects will be a tariff discovered through a transparent process of bidding by the SECI.

“The scheme will not only facilitate the non-windy states and Union Territories to fulfill their non-solar RPO but also boost investment in the sector thus achieving the goal of reaching 60 Gigawatt (Gw) of wind power capacity by 2022.The state will get the power by October, 2018”, the official said.