MEIL commissions 50Mw solar plant in AP

Spread over an area of 600 acres, the plant in Anantapur district has been built at a cost Rs 848 cr - stated to be the largest investment in solar plant in south India till now

MEIL Green Power Limited (MGPL), a unit of Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering Infrastructure Limited (MEIL), on Thursday commissioned a 50-Mw concentrated solar thermal power (CSP) plant at Nagalapuram village in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.

Spread over an area of 600 acres, the plant has been built at a cost Rs 848 crore, which is stated to be the largest investment in a solar plant in south India till now. This is also claimed to be the first CSP plant to be commissioned in the south. It provides direct employment to 80 people and indirect employment to 20 persons.

A CSP plant uses energy from sunlight to generate heat, which is used in steam cycles to produce electricity. CSP was originated and has a widely commercialised market in Spain and the US. So far in India, 470 Mw of CSP projects (seven plants) have been promoted. Of these, the MGPL plant is the only one to be set up in the south. The rest are being established in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

According to MEIL, the plant contributes 110 million units of power. This is helpful to AP and Telangana as NTPC allocates four times additional power (440 million unit) from unallocated quota to both the states as a part of the contract.

MGPL was awarded the 50-Mw power project as a part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission by NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam, which has been appointed as the nodal agency for entering power purchase agreements with solar power projects.