The largest solar power plant of Uttar Pradesh, the biggest state of India, has been inaugurated. The mammoth project is expected to generate 100 MW for the people of the state. The facility has been put up in the Chhanvey block of Mirzapur District. The solar panels were energized by visiting French president Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The launch is in line with India’s pledge to generate 100 GW of solar power by 2022; something that is being termed as the most ambitious renewable capacity expansion program in the world. The government aims to increase the share of clean energy through it thrust on renewable sources of energy. In order to achieve the target of 100 GW, a number of programs as well as schemes have been put in place, such as Solar Defence Scheme, Solar Park, Solar Roof Top Scheme, Solar scheme for CPUs, Solar PV power plants on Canal Bank and Canal Tops, Solar Pump, Solar Rooftop, etc. The developments have taken place over the past few years.
French firm ENGIE has built the project at a cost of about Rs 500 crore. The 100-MW solar power plant has been installed at the Dadar Kalan village on the hilly terrains of the Vindhyas, the mountain range. The huge structure has around 1,18,600 solar panels, which have been set up in more than 380 acres. The solar energy plant is expected to churn 15.6 crore units of electricity every year. This amounts to about 1.30 crore units every month. The generated electricity will be transmitted to Mirzapur’s Jigna substation, which belongs to the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd., say officials.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also reiterated India’s pledge to generate 175 gigawatts (GW) of electricity in India from renewable energy sources by 2022, out of which around 100 GW is expected to be generated from solar energy.
The Government of India (GoI) interventions as well as initiatives have made India a renewable energy hub. investors from across the world participate and win solar and wind energy projects in India. An investment of $10.2 billion was made in India in 2016 alone, from all across the globe. This was the fifth highest in the world. This has been the result of a government policy which is said to be committed generation of renewable energy.