Two days after the Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, mooted a rooftop solar power generation policy, Azure Power, an independent power producer in the solar energy sector, has announced plans to develop India’s first megawatt (MW) scale rooftop project in the Gujarat capital. The company would set up a 2.5 MW plant at an investment of Rs 25 crore.

To be set up under the Gandhinagar Photovoltaic Rooftop Program (GPRP), this would be the first project of its kind in India wherein the energy from an aggregated rooftop portfolio would be sold to one off-taker. The project will also be attractive for rooftop owners through a revenue sharing arrangement for 25 years. Power companies having PPAs with the State Government will off-take solar power at Rs 11 per unit and pay Rs 3 per unit to rooftop owners who install solar equipment.

This way cities can become energy generators and power companies selling in cities can meet their renewable purchase obligations (RPOs), Mr Inderpreet Wadhwa, CEO, and Mr D. J. Pandian, Principal Secretary (Energy), Gujarat Government, said here on Saturday.

The model would demonstrate aggregation of 60-plus rooftops under a single project. The concept has the potential to tap into 1,000 MW of rooftop solar power across Tier-I and II cities, they said.

Azure Power was selected for this project through a competitive bidding process conducted by the Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI). The projects will include a mix of Government and private rooftops. This programme is expected to encourage public participation and increase solar power generation awareness.

Mr Pandian said the GPRP is expected to revolutionise solar power generation on rooftops in Gandhinagar and then in the State. Rooftop solar installations have a huge market potential in India.

Azure Power is targeting to achieve 100 MW of solar power generation capacity by 2014 across India.

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