A part of India’s largest solar power park is now operational in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
ABB India has announced that it commissioned 5 substations to connect 648 MW solar power park to the national grid. The park is being developed by Adani Group. Of the total 648 MW capacity, 360 MW has now been connected to the grid.
Even with this partial commissioning the park has become the largest solar power park in India. India’s first solar power park, which includes smaller projects from various project developers, is located in Charanka district, Gujarat. The current capacity of Charanka power plant stands at 345 MW.
The Kamuthi solar power park in Tamil Nadu will be spread across 5 different solar power projects. Power generated from park will be sold to Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation through a long-term power purchase agreement with duration of 25 years. Adani Group had signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Tamil Nadu to set up the solar power park in 2015.
The power is expected to be sold at Rs 7.01/kWh (US¢10.0/kWh) which represents a huge premium to the tariffs discovered in the recently concluded solar power auctions. Bids by Indian project developers seem to have stabilised around Rs 4.70/kWh (US$7.00/kWh).
Adani Group has announced very ambitious plans to set up large solar power projects. The company entered into an agreement with the state government of Rajasthan to set up a 10 GW solar power park, with the entire capacity expected to be based on photovoltaic technology. Adani Green Energy also confirmed interest in acquiring SunEdison India’s projects.
