Bhubaneswar: In another step towards production of carbon-neutral green energy, the state government has decided to set up 275 mega watt (MW) capacity solar parks at four locations in Sambalpur and Boudh districts.
This was discussed at a high-level meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy in Lokseva Bhawan Monday.
Green Energy Development Corporation (GEDCOL) chairman Bishnupada Sethi said, “State needs to produce 1500 MW of solar power by 2022 to meet the renewable power obligation (RPO). The state is now able to produce solar power at competitive price of around Rs 2.71 per unit. Hence, it is commercially feasible to ramp up commercial production through GEDCOL.”
As of now, around 474 MW on-grid solar power plants have already been installed in different parts of the state through GEDCOL and Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA).
GEDCOL has set up plants of 362 MW through both the public and private investments while OREDA has installed on-grid capacity of around 112 MW. In addition to this, OREDA has projects of 460-MW capacity in pipeline.
It was decided in the meeting that GEDCOL would develop 275 MW capacity solar parks at four locations in Sambalpur and Boudh districts and 500-MW capacity floating solar projects over large water reservoirs in partnership with National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).
Sethi appraised that GEDCOL has expedited steps for 19-MW capacity on-grid rooftop solar plant and 08-MW ground based solar plants at different places. The proposal for removing the present MW limitation for OREDA was also approved in the meeting.
Reviewing the progress made so far, Tripathy directed the officials to work out a detailed road map with time lines for enhancing solar power production on commercial basis. He directed the officials to adopt latest technology for reducing the cost of production.
Further, he directed to develop OREDA and GEDCOL as professionally equipped commercial bodies in renewable energy sector.