NTPC Set to Commission First Solar Power Project

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources India (Delhi, India)--NTPC Limited (BSE:532555) (New Delhi, India), India's state-owned power producer, is set to commission its first utility-scale solar photovoltaic power project at its existing fossil fuel-based power station at Dadri village, near Delhi.

The 5-megawatt (MW), polycrystalline, silicon module-based solar photovoltaic (SPV) plant is slated to commence generation by the end of February 2013. Powered with a total of 20,856 single-axis solar panels manufactured by Waaree Energies Private Limited (Mumbai, India), the project is being executed by Wipro Eco-energy Limited (Bangalore, Karnataka) on a turn-key basis. NTPC, in April 2011, signed a power purchase agreement with the state government's Grid Corporation of Orissa (Gridco) for the sale of power from the project.

NTPC has two operational power stations at Dadri: a 1,820-MW, coal-based power plant, and an 817-MW, natural gas-based power plant. Both of these plants have been in operation since the early 1990s.

The power major has drawn up an ambitious green power program during the ongoing 12th Five Year Plan period (2012-17). To start with, NTPC is setting up 50 MW of new solar power plants at its existing coal-fired power stations in Anta, Ramagundam, Unchahar, Talcher and Faridabad. NTPC is also developing a 5-MW photovoltaic plant in the Andaman Island on the Indian Ocean. This plant is expected to be commissioned soon after the Dadri plant.

NTPC has drawn up an ambitious green power program for the 12th Five Year Plan period. The company has set a target of developing 900 MW of renewable energy capacity by 2017, using resources such as wind, hydro, solar (photovoltaic and thermal) and biomass, entailing investments of about $1.3 billion.

The state-utility intends to add about 301 MW of solar power by March 2014 to its existing base, of which 190 MW will be harnessed through solar thermal technology, while the remaining 111 MW will be PV-based capacity

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