In a bid to build a robust renewable energy portfolio that is 20-25% of its total generation capacity, Tata Power, India’s largest integrated private power utility, commissioned its 3 MW, Photo Voltaic (PV) based, grid connected solar power plant at Mulshi, Maharashtra.
This is the first and largest solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in the State of Maharashtra and one of the largest in India. The plant is spread over 12 acres of land and is situated near Pune. The Company had set up its first solar power plant of 100 kW way back in 1996 at Walwhan in Lonavla.
Mr. Anil Sardana, Managing Director, Tata Power, said, the commissioning of the grid connected 3 MW Solar power plant in Mulshi marks a significant milestone for Tata Power.
This addition reinforces the Company’s sustainability agenda and the commitment of setting up generation capabilities through renewable sources, said Sardana. MERC is one of the regulators to have adopted Renewable Power Obligations (RPO) and Tata’s customers in Mumbai would be getting Green Power through solar energy, he added.
The energy produced from the 3 MW Solar plant in Mulshi will be purchased by Tata Power- Distribution in Mumbai to meet the RPO as per MERC guidelines.
Tata BP Solar is the technology provider for the project. The project is Tata Power’s and Tata BP Solar’s novel experience in building, operating, and maintaining a megawatt-scale grid-connected solar power plant in India. Given the modular nature of the system, the project was executed in 9 months.
The Company has an aggressive plan of generating 25000 MW by 2017 and intends to have a 20-25% contribution from “clean power sources” which will include a mix of Hydro, Solar, Wind, Geothermal and Waste Gas generation.
Apart from the 3 MW solar plant at Mulshi, the Company, through its subsidiary, is implementing a solar power project of 25 MW in Mithapur, Gujarat for which it has already signed the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd. (GUVNL), under the Gujarat State’s Solar Power Policy 2009.
The Gujarat solar project is targeting Commercial Operation in December 2011. Tata Power’s subsidiary, NDPL has also commissioned a 1 MW grid connected roof top solar plant in Delhi.
Tata Power is India’s largest private sector power utility with an installed generation capacity of about 3120 MW and a presence in all the segments of the power sector viz Generation (thermal, hydro, solar and wind), Transmission, Distribution and Trading.
