Farooq Abdullah to dedicate nation's biggest solar plant on Thursday

Solar powre plant set up at Yelesandra village of Kolar district by KPCL.
Set up by Karnataka Power Corporation Limited at Yelesandra village

The country's biggest grid-connected solar power plant set up at Yelesandra village in Bangarpet taluk of Kolar district will be commissioned on June 17.

Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah will dedicate this state-of-the-art power plant with a capacity to generate 3 MW. The plant has been set up by the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) under the Arunodaya project to tap solar energy.

Ceremony a formality
The dedication ceremony is only a formality as the plant has commenced power generation and has been integrated with the State grid.

Its uniqueness is that the power being generated is being supplied to farmers to tap groundwater to take care of crops in the surrounding arid and backward villages which have no irrigation facility. Nearly 600 irrigation pump sets with a capacity of 10 HP each in 20 villages near this plant are now getting uninterrupted three-phase power supply for six hours from 10.30 a.m. Earlier, these pump sets were getting power mostly at night.

Though power is generated from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., the plant works to its full potential for six hours from 10 a.m. According to KPCL Chief Engineer (New Projects) S. Ramesh, the plant is generating 15,000 units of power a day and is expected to generate about 5 million units a year at a plant load factor of 20 per cent. The plant has been set up on 15 acres of land at a cost of Rs. 57 crore. Though it was estimated to cost Rs. 75 crore, KPCL cut down the cost. KPCL can reduce the cost of another 3 MW solar power plant coming up in Raichur to Rs. 42 crore.

The first unit with a capacity of one MW at the Yelesandra plant was commissioned in September 2009 within six months of commencing work, while the second and third units were commissioned in November and December the same year.

While the proposal on power purchase agreement to be signed with electricity supply companies is being examined by the State power regulator, KPCL officials note that the tariff is likely to be around Rs. 6 a unit for power generated from this plant.

The pay-back period for this plant, according to them, is 10 years.

Maintenance of the plant is simple and it needs only 14 personnel in two shifts. The plant is automatic and can be monitored from anywhere with the help of a computer as it is SCADA operated.

Another interesting feature is that KPCL is expecting to earn about Rs. 35 lakh a year through carbon trading from this plant as it prevents 4,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide emission.