Yogi govt promotes pvt solar parks; assures full power purchase by state

Yogi government is targetting a total investment of Rs 500 billion in the solar power space in the next 5 years and is eyeing solar energy generation of 10,700 Mw by 2022 in UP

To promote green energy and reduce overdependence on coal-fired power generation, Yogi Adityanath government is fast changing gears to promote setting up of solar power parks in the private sector.

The government would handhold solar power projects by allowing both ‘open access’ facility and guaranteeing full power evacuation and purchase by state-owned power utilities. The state is sanguine about the economically backward Bundelkhand and Purvanchal regions for solar parks owing to easy availability of land.

The private developer or consortium would be selected after a bidding process and the projects would be expected to be completed in 18-24 months for a speedier generation.

Nodal agency Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) has issued draft guidelines for private solar parks and invited suggestions from stakeholders before it is finalised and implemented under the existing solar power policy, which was announced in December 2017, a senior official told Business Standard.

On account of rising power demand due to incremental growth coupled with the government’s target to provide metered electricity to all the households, the state has projected total power supply to touch 22,500 megawatt (Mw) by the next peak summer season.

While, the government is trying to ramp up solar power generation through on-grid and off-grid solar power plants, including rooftop solar power installations, the grid transmission capacity is also being fortified to handle higher load to prevent tripping.

Under solar parks draft guidelines, the state would purchase cent per cent power generated from these plants, while it would also allow the sale of power to any third party buyer through open access model as per the business strategy of the private developer.

The solar parks could also be developed by availing the applicable grants under the union ministry of new and renewable energy scheme. Currently, the grant is subject to a ceiling of 30 per cent of the project cost or Rs 1.2 million per Mw. However, the developer is free to exercise the choice of open access too, where it could sell power to any other company/utility within or outside the state.

Yogi government is targetting a total investment of Rs 500 billion in the solar power space in the next 5 years. It has even proposed a Green Energy Corridor in Bundelkhand at an investment of Rs 40 billion, to be funded by the Centre in part. Besides, the government is eyeing solar energy generation of 10,700 Mw by 2022 in UP.

On its part UPNEDA also works with private entities to forward its solar power roadmap. For example, Philips Lighting, in consort with the agency, had installed about 36,000 solar LED street lights in over 800 villages and small towns, especially in the remote areas. Earlier, the government had allocated over Rs 2 billion to NEDA for procuring power from renewable sources.