The Ministry for New and Renewable Energy has sanctioned a 1,500-MW ultra mega solar power park for development in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh.
This will become the third park of over 1,000 MW to be taken up by the state. Two other parks of 1,000 MW each are being executed by NTPC at Anantapur and Kurnool districts, respectively.
“With NTPC as a developer, we would be able to provide the advantage of bundling thermal power with solar and supplying it to consumers. This would bring down the tariffs further,” he said.
Tenders for the Kurnool project are expected to be finalised later during the month, and those for phase two of 750 MW for the NP Kunta project in Anantapur would be invited shortly. The phase one of 250 MW has been tendered out and is now under execution, Ajay Jain, Secretary, Energy, Andhra Pradesh, said.
The first bunch of projects tendered out by the state in 2014 is expected to be implemented before March 2016 as per schedule, Jain said after a meeting with renewable sector companies — solar and wind power — here today.
The State Government is keen that the renewable energy sector sees development of 9,000 MW by 2019. This includes 5,000 MW of solar and 4,000 MW of wind capacity. “We are confident of achieving this target as various elements of the plan are now coming through,” he said.
“Along with these projects, the state utility AP Genco has approved a move to set up a 500 MW (250x2) solar park in Anantapur. Rural Electrification Corporation has agreed in principle to sanction Rs 3,000 crore loan for development of the park and a memorandum is expected to be inked shortly,” K Vijayanand, Chairman of AP Genco, said.
Tariffs
Referring to the tariffs which are coming up under the reverse bidding process, Jain said the supply tariffs have come down from a high of about Rs 14 per unity seen in Gujarat about four years ago to about Rs 6 per unit now and some tenders in Madhya Pradesh and Telangana have shown that there have been offers below Rs 6 per unit. “We may see this getting down further,” Jain explained.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh is also on course to add about 1000 MW of wind power by next year.