India connects first solar power plant

Dishergarh Power Supply (DPSC) said today it has started operations at the first photovoltaic solar power plant to be connected to the electric grid in India.

The 2-megawatt solar project in Jamuria, West Bengal, was built at the site of an abandoned 6-MW coal-based thermal power plant. DPSC converted its 8-acre site with the help of Green Energy Development, installing 9,000 230-watt crystalline solar modules.

Although a relatively small solar plant by global standards, the companies say the solar plant is the largest in the country. India's government has set a goal to spend nearly $20 billion during the next 30 years to increase solar installations from almost nothing today to 20 gigawatts by 2020 (see India’s new climate plan aims to set 20 GW solar goal). Among its initiatives, The National Solar Mission is expected to offer a 10-year tax holiday and exemption from customs and excise duties on specific equipment and other project materials (see Inside cleantech India: Kal, Aaj aur Kal!).

The companies spent about Rs 34 crore ($7.1 million) to build the 2-MW solar plant, which is expected to generate 3 million units of electricity a year—enough to power 2,000 rural or 500 urban households. An equivalent-sized coal-based thermal power plant would generate 7 lakh metric tons (700,000 metric tons) of carbon dioxide emissions a day.

DPSC plans to buy the electricity for Rs 5 ($0.10) per unit to distribute to customers in the Asansol-Raniganj belt. The project, which is also set to receive government incentives of Rs 10 per unit, is expected to generate Rs 4.8 crore ($1 million) per year.

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