Green Energy Corp to set up 50 mw Solar Power Plant

Reported by Chinmaya  Dehury

Bhubaneswar, Dec 5:

Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Ltd (GEDCOL) has requested the Industrial Development Corporation of Odisha (IDCO) for allotment of land to develop a 50 mw solar power plant at Manamunda in Boudh district.

GEDCOL, a fully owned subsidiary of Odisha Hydro Power Corporation Ltd (OHPC), would develop the basic infrastructure linking it with the identified patches of land where solar power plants would be put up by private players. It will act as the nodal agency for development of on-grid solar power projects in the state.

It has decided to set up the solar project on a 300-acre plot at the Manamunda Industrial Estate.

“A team of experts from GEDCOL and WAPCOS visited the site at Manamunda Industrial Estate for the purpose of construction of Grid Connected Solar Photo Voltaic Project of 50 MW capacity and found that the location is suitable for taking up the solar project. In this regard GEDCOL has requested IDCO for allotment of land for the solar project,” said an official of GEDCOL.

Recently, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) through Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) has invited RFS document for selection of Solar Project Developer for the 750 mw Grid Connected Solar Photo Voltaic Projects under Jawaharlal Neheru Natinal Solar Mission (JNNSM) Phase-II batch-I at a fixed tariff of Rs.5.45 per Kwh along with support of Viability Gap Funding (VGF).

GEDCOL intends to participate in the above tender process to develop 50 MW Solar Project in Odisha with VGF support from MNRE.

It is to be noted that the government has decided to earmark at least 500 acres of land each in Boudh, Bolangir and Kalahandi districts for solar power development in the State. It is estimated that close to 270 mw of solar power could be generated by setting up projects on these identified land patches.

According to sources, the state has potential to generate 14,000 mw of solar energy. However, as of now the state has been able to achieve solar power generation to the tune of a paltry 18 mw only.