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Giriraj of India Completes 33MW of Solar Capacity in Rajasthan
Jaipur, April 6, 2013: Giriraj Enterprises Ltd. of India completed 33 megawatts of solar-power
capacity, the most to be built under the nation’s Renewable Energy
Credits mechanism. The company started output from three projects of 19, 11 and 3 megawatts
in the western state of Rajasthan last week, Prafulla Khinvasara, the
company’s chief executive officer for renewable-power projects, said Companies such as
Giriraj, a tobacco trader, are building solar generators to benefit from renewable-energy incentives. Producers of
clean power can earn certificates for the output they send to the grid.
They can then sell the credits to state power distributors that are obliged to buy a portion of their electricity from clean sources
such as wind, solar and water.
Giriraj has signed a power purchase agreement with the local state-owned
electricity distributor, Khinvasara said from Sangamner in Maharashtra
state, where the company is based. Giriraj will be able to sell electricity at an average price of 2.7
rupees (5 cents) a unit, and expects to trade 53,000 certificates a year, he said.
Indian demand for renewable-energy credits, or RECs, almost tripled last
month to 435,481 in the run-up to the fiscal year- end. Solar credits
sold for 13,400 rupees apiece on the Indian Electricity Exchange, according to REConnect Energy Solutions Pvt.
“The Indian REC market is considered risky and unpredictable by investors,” said Bharat
Bhushan, a New Delhi- based analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “Thirty-three megawatts is the largest
solar REC project in India and it is not a normal practice to see such
large investments in solar RECs.” Source: businessweek.com
World's largest solar power plant ready for production in Sakri
Abu Dhabi, March 27, 2013: President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed had
launched on Sunday ‘Shams 1 Solar Power Plant’ with a capacity of 100MW
in Abu Dhabi. It was claimed that Shams 1 is the world's largest working plant using
concentrated solar power.
"The entire solar photovoltaic power project in Sakri has a capacity to
generate 150MW of electricity. This is the maximum production at one
place in the world", the official said while talking to ummid.com. “More than 95% work of the plant has been completed and it will start
production by generating 50MW of electricity on March 25. Production of
another 100MW of electricity will start maximum in two weeks time”, the
MahaGenco official said. The project is implemented with dual technology, with 100MW power to be
generated based on Crystalline Technology using photovoltaic cells, whereas 50 MW of electricity would be generated using Thin Film solar cells.
"However, the Thin Film technology has the demerit that it fails when
the atmosphere is too much cloudy. They also fail during night", the official said.
The distinguishing feature of Abu Dhabi's Shams 1 is to generate
electricity in night. This plant also relies on a small amount of natural gas to boost its efficiency during the day.
In other parts of India, Rajasthan and Gujarat are the only two states
where solar energy is generated in a huge quantity. “But, the plants in these two states are scattered at different places.
The main feature of the Sakri plant is that it has a capacity to generate 150MW of electricity at a single place”, the official said
adding that Sakri was chosen as the place for the purpose since it gets
as much sunshine as Barmer in Rajasthan.
The solar photovoltaic power project in Sakri built at the cost of
Rs.1642.50 crore is constructed on 381.56 hectares of land, and in three
different blocks of 161, 171 and 42 hectares of land with 07.56 hectares
of land being reserved for Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co
Ltd (MSEDCL).
The project to be completed in partnership with Germany was sanctioned
by the state government in the 2010/11 budget, and was supposed to be
commissioned in December 2012. It however got delayed because the land
identified for the purpose belonged to the Forest Department and it took
more than a year for the MahaGenco to get possession of the land. Source: Ummid.com
India, US Launch Solar Energy Research Institute With $50 Million Funding
January 11, 2013: The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the US Department of
Energy (DOE) along with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore have officially launched the Solar Energy Research Institute
for India and United States (SERIIUS) with $50 million collaboration to promote solar energy
research. The research institute forms collaboration between academia and industry
(from both countries) for the development of solar energy in both the
countries.
SERIIUS is a part of PACE program that was launched in 2010 by US President
Barrack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, according to Kamanio
Chattopadhyay, co-founder of SERIIUS. This joint centre on solar energy is led by the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (NREL) on the US side and the Department of Science
and Technology on the Indian side, and both have committed to provide
$12.5 million over a period of 5 years, while an additional $25.5 million will be provided by the consortium of 30 partners from both
India and US sides. Source: CleanTechnica! |
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