Leh, Kargil districts to have solar power projects

Leh and Kargil districts of the Ladakh region will soon have solar power projects under the state-run Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), officials said Thursday.

As a part of its ambitious plan to build 23 GW solar power projects in Ladakh, SECI Wednesday issued tenders for construction of 7.5 GW solar power projects in the first phase, they added.

As per the tender document, two solar power projects will be built in Phase-1 -- a 2.5 GW capacity project in the Zangla region of Kargil and a 5 GW project in the Pang region of Leh.

The drawl point for the 2.5GW project is tentatively planned to be New Wanpoh, while for the 5GW project, it will be Hisar in Punjab.

SECI will sign a 35-year power purchase agreement with the project developers, who will get a maximum of 54 months to get the projects running, they added.

India will soon call bids to set up 23,000 mega watt (MW) solar power projects in Ladakh.

The high-altitude Himalayan region has huge potential for solar power generation. The transmission network would be extended till Punjab, a distance of about 850 km, they added.

In 2014, the UPA-led government had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Jammu and Kashmir government to harness close to 7.5GW of solar power generation capacity -- 5GW in Ladakh and the rest in Kargil. However, inter-departmental tussles and lack of clarity on other issues scuttled the project, industry sources said.