Bhadla project powers India's solar energy march

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Bhadla project powers Indias solar energy march

Jodhpur - Once fully operational, the solar park will generate 2,255MW of power daily

By CP Surendran

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Published: Mon 29 May 2017, 11:23 AM

Last updated: Mon 29 May 2017, 1:27 PM

Bhadla village is on the fringes of the Thar Desert in Rajasthan. It's about 200km from Jodhpur city. Its population is 6,148. And in summer, the mercury goes up to 52 degrees Celsius. A little known and harsh place till recently, Bhadla is of increasing importance to India's solar power map. The Bhadla Solar Park is at the heart of India's alternative power push. It houses the largest solar park in India.
Recently, the public sector enterprise National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) commissioned a new 55-megawatts (MW) Bhadla solar power unit in Rajasthan. In an official statement, NTPC said:
"We wish to state that 55MW of Bhadla solar power project of NTPC Ltd has been commissioned. With this, the installed capacity of Bhadla solar power project has become 260MW and that of NTPC's solar power projects has become 620MW."
A recent international auction at Bhadla Solar Park discovered one of the new 250MW plants could generate power at Rs 2. 62 per unit. This is much cheaper than the average existing unit price of Rs 3.2 generated from coal-fired thermal units. Solar power is one of the cleanest forms of energy as opposed to fossil fuels.
The project is spread over 10,000 acres of desert. Once the solar park is fully operational, it will generate 2,255MW of power daily.  That is more than the power demand of the entire state of Rajasthan. Or, roughly, more than one-third the demand of Delhi, whose daily needs range around 6,000MW.
Some of the biggest names in Indian industry would be investing in the project. They include Adani, Reliance and Tatas. The park has two phases already in operation.
Finnish company Fortum and South Africa's Phelan energy and Cleantech are already investors in Bhadla.
India is the third-largest carbon emitter, after China and America. Traditionally, coal lights up 61 per cent of India's power-generating capacity, and Coal India is the world's biggest coal company. Since coal generates more carbon emission when it is burned than other fossil fuels, India is an important player in the global battle against climate change.
The Bhadla Solar Park when fully commissioned will go a long way in meeting India's power needs. As of now, nearly 240 million Indians are deprived of power.
The Modi government has shown surprising tenacity to shift India's power generation from carbon-fuels to clean forms, like solar and wind, to meet the growing power demands of India.
Modi's objective is to install fully 175 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2022, which is triple of today's capacity. The government recently approved the creation of 50 solar parks, including the 50-MW solar plant at Anantpur in Andhra Pradesh, the 250-MW solar unit at Mandsar in Madhya Pradesh, and the 260-MW solar plant at Bhadla, the largest among such efforts.
The Bhadla Solar Park is also changing the lifestyle of the impoverished region. The park already has over 1,000 technicians and staffers from all across the country. But four out of every ten are locals from nearby villages and towns.
Fresh engineer pass-outs draw salaries of around Rs 40,000, which is a lot in a community that was till recently primarily dependent on animal husbandry for a living. About 40 locals are employed as engineers in the plant.


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