Tata BP Solar commissions 1-MW solar power plant in Orissa

Tata BP Solar India, a joint venture of Tata Power and BP Solar, today said it had commissioned its first 1-MW solar photovoltaic power plant in Orissa under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM).

The project, owned and developed by SN Mohanty at Cuttack in Orissa, was synchronised to the grid on August 23, the company said in a statement issued here.

"Tata BP Solar as an engineering, procurement and construction contractor in association with S N Mohanty is very proud in bringing about this first solar photovoltaic plant in Orissa," the company's Chief Executive Officer K Subramanya said.

The project, which is designed to run for 25 years, uses 4,400 crystalline silicon modules of 230 Watts each spread out over an area of 5 acres, which will generate electric current when solar radiation falls on them, the release said.

The solar power plant is expected to generate 1.41 million units of electricity in the first year. Tata BP Solar has also taken the contract to provide the operation and maintenance services to the plant for the first 10 years after commissioning, it said.

S N Mohanty has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Orissa State Electricity Board for 25 years to supply this power to them.

Tata BP Solar is currently executing projects in different parts of India including Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand under the IREDA-run scheme.