MP govt promoting solar energy

By Muslim Saleem

Bhopal, March 5, 2012

The Madhya Pradesh Government is set to promote solar energy generation as part of its efforts to overcome the power crisis in the State. The government will leave no stone unturned to promote the generation and use of solar energy. Tthe State Government is doing its best to frame the Solar Energy Policy by March-end. Government’s initiative to tap solar energy is indeed a major achievement of the State after wind energy, reports SM News & Features.

Solar energy can be generated under the policy in five districts of the State bordering Rajasthan — Mandsaur, Neemuch, Guna, Rajgarh and Sheopur. About 800 megawatts of solar power can be generated in the State after ramming of the policy. Sates such as Gujarat, Rajasthan and many others have already been promoting the use of solar energy in the country.

The new Madhya Pradesh solar policy unlike other Indian policies does not contain geographical limits. The second largest Indian State released its first solar policy last month, inviting bids for projects worth 200 MW. In a marked departure from the existing policies in other states the policy does not mandate any geographical limits on the location of the project. Therefore, they can be located in any other state. For transmission, a Power Purchase Agreement with Madhya Pradesh Power Trading Company can be signed.

In other aspects too, this policy adopts a new approach. For example, the size of solar projects may vary from five MW, to as much as the complete capacity to be allotted: 200 MW. For a project located outside Madhya Pradesh, the minimum size of the plant must be 10 MW. The Odisha Solar Policy is an exception — it allocated its complete capacity of 25 MW to a single bid by Alex Green Energy last month, and also did not specify the maximum capacity allowed for a project.

With a similar scenario under the Madhya Pradesh Solar Policy, bids for projects of size greater than 25 MW can be expected. The Madhya Pradesh policy further specifies separate deadlines for projects of different sizes. The commissioning deadline for projects up to 25 MW is 13 months. It is proportionally more for larger projects — for example, for a 200 MW project, there is a 24 month deadline. This is the longest commissioning time allowed under any solar policy in India.

Concerning domestic content, unlike the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh’s guidelines adheres to those of the National Solar Mission (NSM). As such, crystalline photovoltaic cells and modules must be sourced locally, while thin film modules can be procured from international suppliers. For solar thermal plants too, 30 per cent of the raw materials have to be sourced locally.

While the land costs might seem like a good incentive to set up plants in these States, doing so will also increase the cost of wheeling and transmission. Grid evacuation could prove to be an issue. Plants usually depend on the nearest 33 KV substation, which is provided and owned by the electricity board of the State where it is located. If a plant outside Madhya Pradesh, which has a PPA with MPPTC, fails to get an evacuation from its native State, the cost of transmission lines leading to the closest substation owned by MPSEB will have to be incurred by the project owner.

While the policy has redefined the perspective with which Governments have been looking at the solar energy industry, it will be equally important for MPPTC to take care of the very last mile as far as power transmission goes. It will also have to lay down clear guidelines for evacuation arrangements to avoid any administration issues in the future.