Subsidiary of one of India’s leading private sector power companies – Tata Power – recently won rights to develop large-scale solar power projects in the southern state of Karnataka.
Tata Power Company recently reported that its subsidiary Tata Power Renewable Energy received letter of intent for development of two solar power projects with 50 MW capacity each. The projects shall be located in the southern state of Karnataka.
The projects will be part of a larger solar power park in the state. Power generated from this solar power park shall be bundled with power generated from thermal power projects in order to make it cheaper for the utilities to purchase the bundled electricity.
Tata Power Renewable Energy shall sell the electricity to NVVN Limited, a subsidiary of NTPC Limited (India’s largest power generation company) at a tariff of Rs 4.79/kWh (US¢7.2/kWh). NVVN shall then bundle this power with that generated from thermal power plants of NTPC Limited before selling it to interested utilities across the country.
The projects have been allocated to Tata Power Renewable Energy under phase II, batch II of the National Solar Mission. Under the first tranche of this scheme the government aims to set up 3 GW capacity.
Last month, Tata Power had announced plans to increase its share of renewable energy output from 20% to 35-40% by 2025. The company currently has an installed capacity of 9,156 MW, including 593 MW from wind energy and 60 MW from solar power projects. Tata Power hopes to increase its installed capacity to 20 GW by 2025. A 40% renewable energy share would mean 8 GW capacity.