The West Bengal Government today said that it has invited an expression of interest from private sector companies to partner West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation for implementation of the country’s largest renewable energy project in the Sunderbans.

The biomass-solar hybrid project is planned for execution under a public-private partnership model and the project cost is pegged at Rs 110 crore.

The project falls under the Centre’s Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana rural electrification scheme and as such, the Ministry of Power has sanctioned a grant for implementation of the project, while the remaining amount would be borne by the project partners.

“Through this, we want to connect nearly 11 islands in the Sunderbans,” the State Power Secretary, Mr Malay De, said here on the sidelines of an energy summit organised by the European Business and Technology Centre (EBTC) and the Bengal Chamber of Commerce.

In the recent package allotted to the state by the Centre, Rs 100 crore has been specifically allotted for clean energy initiatives and the state power department would act as the nodal agency in allotting those projects, he said.

The project would use both biomass and solar sources to provide round-the-clock power supply. The project would be developed under a viability gap funding model, based on which the end-product has to be sold at a specified price.

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