The Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL), the state-owned power producer, has got an encouraging response from private firms for its proposal to form a joint venture to develop mega solar power plants in the state. As many as seven companies have shown interest in joining KPCL to form a JV firm to set up around 100 Mw capacity solar power plants at an investment of Rs 1,500 crore, a senior company official said.
“After setting up three successful solar plants of 3 Mw each in the state, we have gained considerable expertise in developing solar power plants. However, in order to take up bigger solar plants, we decided to involve the private sector firms. We will provide technical knowhow to develop solar plants of 5-10 Mw capacity each,” S Ramesh, chief engineer (new projects), KPCL, told Business Standard.
KPCL has received expression of interest from 7 companies that include US-based SunEdison, AES Solar Energy Ltd, Hyderabad-based Solar Semiconductor Pvt Ltd, Bangalore-based Rajesh Global, Bharti Solar and Kiran Energy. The corporation has already held talks with each of these firms in January and the joint venture is likely to be formed within a month. While, the private firms will put in capital investment, KPCL will provide consultancy and technical expertise, he said.
While KPCL will have a 26 per cent equity in the new JV firm, while the rest will be from the private firm. The investment for each of the new plant will be in the region of Rs 150 crore, he said.
KPCL has so far set up three plants of 3 Mw each in Kolar, Belgaum and Raichur districts respectively. While, units at Kolar and Belgaum have started generating power, the Raichur unit will go on stream next month. The investment at Kolar and Belgaum was pegged at Rs 60 crore each, while the Raichur plant has seen an investment of Rs 42 crore.
The next set of solar power plants are expected to see a much lower investment as KPCL has improved its negotiating power with the rise in power plant capacity, Ramesh said. He, however, believes that the cost will further come down to Rs 10 crore per mega watt over the next few years with more and more units coming up across the country.
Ramesh said the corporation is planning to set up bigger solar plants with a capacity of 5-10 Mw each at more than 10 locations. The new plants would be set up at three locations in Shimoga, two locations in Haveri, Kaginele, and Kudalasangama in Bijapur district, Mandya, Tumkur and Mysore districts.