 "Solar power's moment of reckoning arrives")
" As many as 3,500 acre land has been tentatively identified in Balasore district. With the available land, a 600 Mw (mega watt) solar park is feasible. The exact capacity will be finalised after preparation of the project report", said a source.
It may be noted that Odisha government has in-principle approval for setting up a 1,000 Mw solar park project from the Union ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
For developing the balance capacity, scouting of suitable locations is underway, added the source.
The park, to be developed on public-private partnership mode, is likely to involve an investment of about Rs 6.5 crore per Mw.
Twenty one states, including Odisha, have proposed to develop 27 solar parks with aggregate capacity of 18,418 Mw in country.
Union government has set a target to generate 1,75,000 Mw of power through renewable sources of energy. Out of the target, solar energy would account for 1,00,000 Mw while 60,000 Mw would be generated by harnessing wind capacity. Besides, 10,000 Mw and 5,000 Mw would come from biogas and small hydro projects.
Similarly, Odisha government has also set an ambitious target to add 3,000 Mw renewable energy capacity by 2022 in the draft Odisha Renewable Energy Policy. The target includes 2,300 Mw in the solar sector, 350 Mw from wind sources, 150 Mw from the small hydro-electricity projects, 180 Mw from biomass and 20 Mw from municipal solid waste (msw).
The solar sector is divided into four areas such as land based solar projects (500 Mw), projects utilising water bodies (250 Mw), projects on the consumer side of the meter (50 Mw), solar park (1,500 Mw).
It may be noted that Odisha receives an average solar radiation of 5.5k Wh/sqm area with around 300 clear sunny days every year. National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) has estimated solar power potential of the state at 25,780 Mwp2.
