Reliance Power plans to set up a 200 MW wind power project at Vashpet in the Sangli district of Maharashtra with an investment of Rs 1,500 crore.
The project can be scaled up by another 200 MW.
Sources said Vashpet was selected for its terrain and wind potential. RPower plans to install 80 2.5-MW wind generators that are based on the technology of Fuhrlander, Germany. The project is to be commissioned in phases by September 2012.
Though the project would come up on over 400 acres, lease agreements for the footprint of the turbines alone have been signed, as is the practice most developers now follow, the sources added.
RPower has also entered into a long-term power purchase agreement with Reliance Infrastructure for Rs 5.37 a unit, the tariff declared by the Maharashtra State Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC).
The power generated will be wheeled for Mumbai distribution business of R-Infra, a power distribution licencee for the city.
The MERC mandate for purchase of renewable energy in 2011-12 is seven per cent for the utilities, which would be revised to eight per cent next year, For R Infra the current year's seven per cent target needs to be sourced from non-solar (6.75 per cent) and balance from solar projects.
RPower said the wind farm would also be eligible for carbon credits equivalent to Rs 300 crore in the first 10 years of operation.
An RPower spokesperson confirmed the development and said, “Reliance power has a long term vision for development of large wind, solar and other renewable projects and the Vashpet project is a significant milestone in that journey.”