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Asia's largest solar farm in Gujarat
AHMEDABAD, October 15, 2011: Moser Baer Clean Energy Limited (MBCEL) commissioned Asia's largest solar farm in Banaskantha district
of Gujarat. The 30 MW solar farm has been set up using 2,36,000 Thin Film modules with an approximate investment of Rs 465 crore. The power
will be evacuated through 2 separate 66 KV lines to Sub-Stations at Anganwada and
Dunawada. This project awarded under phase 1 of Gujarat Solar Power policy 2009
will be the first major project commissioned under the Gujarat Solar Mission. With 11 MW of existing solar power generation capacity, Gujarat is
country's largest solar power producer today. With MBCELadding 30 MW of renewable generation capacity, Gujarat is strengthening its
position in the country. Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi will unveil this project on Friday. MBCEL is commissioning yet another 15 MW
solar power project in the state.
The Solar Engineer women of India's Barefoot college
June 25, 2011 Barefoot Solar Engineer at the Barefoot College in Tilonia
village, Ajmer, Rajasthan, India Kamla Devi was Rajasthan's first woman to graduate from Barefoot college
as a solar engineer. Securing the end of her bright yellow and orange sari firmly around her
head, Santosh Devi climbs up to the rooftop of her house to clean her solar panels. The shining, mirrored panels, which she installed herself
last year, are a striking sight against the simple one-storey homes of her village. No less remarkable is that this 19-year-old, semi-literate
woman from the backwaters of Rajasthan has broken through India's rigid caste system to become
the country's first Dalit solar engineer.
Santosh trained to be a solar engineer at the Barefoot College in
Tilonia, 100km from Jaipur. The college was set up in 1972 by Sanjit
"Bunker" Roy to teach rural people skills with which they could transform their villages, regardless of gender, caste, ethnicity, age or
schooling. The college claims to have trained 15,000 women in skills including solar engineering, healthcare and water testing. Roy, 65, says
his approach – low cost, decentralised and community driven – works by "capitalising on the resources already present in the villages".
Country's
largest 10 MW Solar Power Plant
AHMEDABAD, june 9, 2011: Azure Power, today, announced the commissioning of Phase I of
its 10 MW solar photovoltaic plant in Gujarat. The plant at Khadoda village, Sabarkantha district in North Gujarat is India's largest solar
power project. Azure has entered into a 25 year long agreement with the apex state utility Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited.
Among other major solar power projects, Lanco is operating 5 MW of capacity in Gujarat and planning to expand it soon. Azure Power chairman
HS Wadhwa said, "Azure Power has demonstrated successfully on ground
that solar power prices are following a downward trend and in next 5 years should reach retail parity.
With Government of Gujarat's dynamic participation in this sector, economies of scale will accelerate solar
generation grid parity, creation of millions of jobs and clean energy
for Indian households for years to come." Azure Power has a project under every Solar Policy in the country. In
addition to Gujarat, Azure Power has inked agreements with state governments of Punjab and
Rajasthan. Ongoing talks with other state governments will take this total generating capacity to a combined
production of 100 MW solar power by 2014 with cumulative investment of Rs 1500 Crs.
Astonfield Renewable Resources solar power project in Rajasthan
NEW DELHI, June 2, 2011: Astonfield Renewable Resources on Thursday said it has signed
an agreement with Spanish firm Grupo T-Solar Global SA for setting up a
solar power project in Rajasthan. "Astonfield Renewable Resources (Astonfield) has entered into a
strategic partnership with Grupo T-Solar Global SA (T-Solar) for setting
up 5-MW solar PV project in Osiyan, Rajasthan," an official statement said.
Touted to be the first long-term strategic collaboration between the two
companies, Astonfield will deploy T-Solar's thin film modules under the project.
The project will be one of the first utility-scale solar power plants commissioned under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM)
and is expected to be commissioned by October, 2011. Construction on the project has begun and once operational, it is
expected to generate at least 8,500 megawatt hours (MWh) per year, sufficient to power the equivalent of over 13,000 Indian
households.
Rajasthan allots 10,000 hectares land for its first solar park
Jodhpur, May 3, 2011: Jodhpur is all set to get the first solar power park of
Rajasthan. Rajasthan government approved for around ten thousand hectares of land to be utilised in three zones for the solar park.
Secretary of Ministry of New and Renewable Resources of Energy Deepak
Gupta gave the information to reporters on Monday. He further said the government also plans to establish solar parks in
Jaisalmer, Badmer and Bikaner. The state will get solar power plants with a total capacity of three thousand megawatts. Units for production
of essential equipments for the solar power plant will also beestablished nearby. A research and experiment hub will also be built to help improve the
expertise of the plant and workers of the solar power plant.
Rajasthan cabinet okays solar energy policy
JAIPUR, April 14, 2011: Rajasthan cabinet on Wednesday cleared a policy for promoting
solar energy production and finalised the draft for a new policy for allotment of land on concessional rates to public, charitable and social
institutions. The cabinet meeting, chaired by chief minister Ashok Gehlot, also
decided that bureaucrats will have to declare their assets which shall
be uploaded on government websites. The policy relating to land allotment on concessional rates to public,
charitable and social institutions was finalised to prevent the misuse
of such provision, Gehlot told reporters. Source: The Economic Times
Tata Power deals with Australian company for floating solar units
Mumbai, March 25: Tata Power has entered into a partnership with Australian solar power
company Sunengy Pty Ltd that will allow the Australian company to build
a pilot plant using its low-cost, floating (on water) solar technology
in India by this year-end. Tata Power's wholly owned Singapore-based subsidiary, Trust Energy, has
picked up equity in Sunengy, but the details of this development were not made available.
The liquid solar array (LSA) technology effectively turns a dam into a
very large battery, offering free solar storage and opportunity for improved water resource management. “Moreover, LSA needs no heavy
materials or huge land acquisitions and is effectively cyclone proof,” said Mr Phil Connor, Sunengy Executive Director and Chief Technology
Officer, also inventor of the technology.The technology uses traditional concentrated photovoltaic
(CPV) technology – a lens and a small area of solar cells that tracks the sun
throughout the day, like a sunflower. Floating the LSA on water reduces
the need for expensive supporting structures to protect it from high winds. The lenses submerge in bad weather and the water also cools the
cells which increases their efficiency and life-span
India to install ‘Asia’s first commercial-scale tidal power station’ in Gujarat
New Delhi, January 20, 2011 (ANI): India is planning to install Asia’s first commercial-scale tidal
power station off the coast of Gujarat. Atlantis Resources, a U.K. engineering
firm specializing in underwater turbines, would install a 50MW tidal farm in the Gulf of Kutch, and begin the construction works early in
2012, the BBC reports. The Indian project would require outrunning developments at Sihwa Lake, a South Korean tidal barrage under
construction on the country’s west coast, to claim the title of “Asia’s first” commercial-scale tidal power station, the report said.
A recent study by Atlantis has claimed that Gujarat has the good
potential to initiate a tidal power station. “About two and a half years ago we ran a global study of tidal power resources and came up with some
hotspots where resource seemed pretty well matched to load. One of them was the Gulf of Kutch - and since then we’ve had wonderful support from
the government, culminating in the announcement that the project was going ahead,” Atlantis CEO Tim Cornelius said.
The proposed project is estimated to cost about 150 million dollars, and expected to be completed by 2013. D.J. Pandian, Chairman and Managing
Director of Gujarat Power Corporation, said that Gujarat has enough resources in the waters of its coast to go ahead with the exploration. |
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