The central government has sanctioned
three solar ultra mega power projects in the state. One of them will
come up in Vidarbha while the other two will be in Marathwada and
Khandesh. An eleven member committee under principal secretary (energy)
had been set up to identify the sites for these plants. A Mahagenco
official said that the installed capacity of each of these plants would
be 500MW. “The central government has set a target of generating 1.75
lakh MW through new and renewable energy sources by 2022. Of this the
share of solar power is 1 lakh MW. The state government has therefore
decided to increase solar generation in the state,” he said.
The state government had announced an
integrated non-conventional energy policy in July 2015. It had set a
target of creating 7,500MW solar capacity by 2020. “The central
government has announced a solar ultra mega power project policy under
which the agencies setting up such plants will get a large number of
incentives. The state government sent a proposal for setting up three
such plants of 500MW capacity, which has been approved,” he further
said. According to the official the biggest challenge before the state
government was providing land at affordable rates to the private
investor. “A 500MW solar plant will require 2,500 acre land and hence
the land cost is an important parameter. The committee headed by
principal secretary (energy) will select the sites keeping this factor
in mind,” he added.
The other members of the committee are:
Director general of Maharashtra Energy Development Agency (MEDA),
managing directors of MSEDCL, Mahatransco and Mahagenco, etc. The state
government is promoting solar energy in a big way. It has allowed
private individuals and organizations to set up solar power plants in
their premises for their own consumption. Under the solar roof top grid
connected policy, the consumer can get both solar and MSEDCL supply. The
government is providing solar agricultural pumps to farmers where power
infrastructure is not available. It has now decided to set up dedicated
solar agricultural feeders for catering to between 800 and 1,000
farmers. The cost of solar power has come down sharply in last ten years
making it affordable.
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