Punjab today took a giant leap in harnessing renewable sources of energy as Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal handed over Letter of Awards to 26 developers for 250 MW Solar Power Projects having joint investment of Rs. 2500-3000 crore and more than 2000 job opportunities in next 15 months. The success of Punjab’s bidding process could be gauged from the fact that top Solar Power Developers namely Lanco Solar Energy, Punj Lloyd Infrastructure, Moser Baer Clean Energy, Essel Infra Projects, Asopus Infrastructure (India Bulls), Welspun Solar Punjab , Azure Urja and Solairedirect Energy have preferred Punjab after considering the conducive investment opportunities being provided by the State.
Presiding over a function organized by Punjab Energy Development Authority, the Deputy Chief Minister pointed out that we have set a target to generate at least 1000 MW power from renewable resources of energy like solar, biomass, co-generation, mini-hydel and solar roof tops in next four years. He said that after awarding these 250MW Solar Power Projects, the state was all set to award 300 MW Biomass Power Plants shortly. He said that with the availability of abundant agri-residue in the form of paddy straw and cotton stalks, the state has a great potential for setting up of Biomass Power Plants having dual benefit of additional income to farmers besides saving the ecology of the state. Mr. Badal said that Punjab was also exploring the possibility of setting up of a mega Solar Park to promote clean and green energy in a big way.
Extending an open invitation to all the investors/project developers, Mr. Badal said that the state has one of the best infrastructures whether it was road connectivity, air connectivity or availability of Power. He said that with completion of three thermal power projects having joint generation capacity of 3920MW power, the state was all set to become the first Power Surplus State in the country. Besides this, with two international and five domestic airports in the state, any investor can have access to any part of the state within one hour journey. He said that all the major cities and towns of the state would have 4/6 lane expressways connectivity in coming three years. He said that the new Industrial Policy announced by the Punjab Government has attracted all the major industrial houses of the country as the heads of all TATA Companies recently visited Punjab to explore maximum investment avenues and expressed confidence that the state would soon emerge as No. 1 investment destination in the Country.
Earlier, addressing the solar power developers, Mr. Bikram Singh Majithia, Non Conventional Energy Minister Punjab said that the state was committed to draw full advantage of solar boom and would make concerted efforts to harness maximum resources in renewable energy sector. Mr. Majithia revealed that Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh had started bidding process simultaneously. Punjab allocates solar power projects to the tune of 250 MW after completing the bidding process for 300 MW solar power, while Rajasthan allocates 75 MW, Tamil Nadu 200 MWand Andhra Pradesh 200 MW against the bidding process of 100, 1000 and 1000 MW respectively. He said that at present country has 1000MW installed capacity of Solar Power Projects and with companies like Lanco Solar Energy, Punj Lloyd Infrastructure, Moser Baer Clean Energy, Essel Infra Projects, Asopus Infrastructure (India Bulls), Welspun Solar Punjab , Azure Urja and Solairedirect Energy, who were the major players for these projects throughout the country, have now preferred Punjab for investment keeping in view the unique incentives offered in NRSE Policy 2012.
Mr. Majithia said that till date the state has harnessed 569MW in the Renewable Energy Sector out of which 134MW in Small / Mini Hydel, 62.5MW in Biomass Power (IPP), 362 MW in Co-generation and 10.5MW in Solar Photovoltaic Power sectors. He informed that under the NRSE Policy-2012, the targets for installed capacity generation of Solar Power has been fixed at 1000MW by 2022. He said that biomass Power Generation projects of 600MW and Co-generation Power Project of 500MW were intended to be set up gainfully to utilize the abundant agriculture residues. A total of 400MW small/mini/micro hydel & 50MW of Waste to Energy power projects have been planned to be setup under NRSE Policy 2012. He said that fiscal and financial incentives were being provided by the State under the NRSE Policy to encourage private sector participation in this area noticeably in terms of assured buy back of power by state utility. With a view to give a thrust to roof top solar power generation, a survey of Government Buildings, Institutions in various Districts in the State, has been completed; and as per which roof capacity of 60MW was immediately available to be harnessed, he added.
Anirudh Tiwari, Secretary Power and Non Conventional Energy Sources, said that the allocation of 250 MW Solar Power Projects was a step towards sustainable development. He said that the state has already approached the IIT, Ropar and other technical institutions of the region to develop a viable technology for usage of Paddy straw for generating power or ethanol. He said that the solar power projects have been awarded in two categories of 1-4 MW and 5-30 MW. In small category of 1-4 MW total 18 companies were awarded power projects to the tune of 50 MW while in 5-30 MW categories 11 renowned companies have been awarded projects for 200 MW solar power.Prominent amongst others who were present on the occasion included Mr. Manasavi Kumar, CEO PEDA and Mr. Balour Singh, Director PEDA.
It may be mentioned here that in category II i.e. 5-30 MW capacity the companies including Azure Urja Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi (two projects one each of 15 MW, Solairedirect Energy India Private Limited, Pune (20 MW), Welspun Solar Punjab Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai (two projects one 20 MW and one 10 MW), Punj Lloyd Infrastructure Limited (20 MW), Moserbaer Clean Energy Limited, New Delhi (two projects one each of 15 MW), Asopus Infrastructure Limited (two projects one 20 MW and one 10 MW), EsselInfraprojects Ltd., Mumbai (two projects of 20 and 10 MW capacity) and Lanco Solar Energy Private Limited, Gurgaon (10 MW) have been awarded projects. While in category I i.e. 1-4 MW capacity the following 18 companies namely WAA Solar Pvt. Ltd, T R Energy & Agro Private Limited, International Switchgears Pvt. Ltd, Aditya Media Sales Ltd., Mumbai, Shan Solar Pvt. Ltd, Supreme Infrastructre India Ltd., Gurgaon, Azure Urja Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, SAR Capital Pvt. Ltd, Focal Energy Wind India Pvt. Ltd, Focal Energy Wind India Pvt. Ltd, Atma Powers Private Limited, Muktsar, Allianz Group LLC, Ludhiana, NexgenSolex Pvt. Ltd., I K Energy Pvt. Ltd, Asopus Infrastructure Limited, Abundant Ventures LLC, USA, Welspun Solar Punjab Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, Mokia Green Energy Pvt. Ltd and Earth Solar Pvt. Ltd. have got projects.