Tata Power to build 50 mw solar plant in Madhya Pradesh

Leading renewable energy producer Tata Power Solar will build a 50 megawatt (mw) solar power project for the state-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) at Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh.

"We have won the 50 mw solar photovoltaic project in a competitive bid and will build it at Rajgarh during the next nine months for commissioning in March 2014," company chief executive Ajay Goel said in a statement here Thursday.

The project cost is estimated to be Rs.246 crore (Rs.2.46 billion).

Around 79 million units in kilowatt per hour (Kwh) of energy generated from the project will be supplied to the state grid through Madhya Pradesh Power Trading Company Ltd. According to the Central Electricity Authority, the state has an annual peak power deficit of 9.6 percent.

"The project will demonstrate our core strengths of manufacturing solar modules and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) capability as the criteria for awarding it to us was technical knohow and competitive pricing to execute it on time," Goel said.

The project, which doubles NTPC's solar capacity to 100 mw, is a part of its renewable energy plan target of 1,000 mw by 2017.

"We plan to broaden our generation mix through conventional and non-conventional energy sources to ensure long-term competitiveness and mitigate fuel risk, as we are committed to sustainable development and protect the environment," NTPC director (technical) A.K. Jha said in the statement.

As the country's largest power generation utility with a combined capacity of 41 gigawatt (gw), mostly from non-renewable energy sources like coal and gas, NTPC has embarked on generating power through renewable sources in 2010.

Promoting clean energy, NTPC has commissioned two 10 mw solar projects at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and Andaman and Nicobar islands.

The state power utility is also setting up a 10 mw solar power plant at Kaniha in Odisha and a 35 mw solar unit in Rajasthan.

The city-based Tata Power Solar has 125 mw solar module and 180 mw cell manufacturing facilities in Bangalore and has built about 70mw of grid connected projects across the country.