The Himachal Pradesh state government in India has approved an aspiring solar park project in the area. The nominal output of that mega park is expected to be 880 MW, which should be enough to power over 320,000 homes or cover the needs of about 1.5 million people.
India’s National Institute of Solar Energy has identified the area as a very promising one, estimating a renewable energy harvesting potential of 33 GW, which is absolutely staggering. Of course, to capture all this energy and convert it to usable forms (electricity), one would have to invest a lot, but the figure gives a clear idea of how much sunlight drops in Himachal Pradesh.
The country has set a 2022 target of 100 GW, and the particular state has been asked to contribute 776 MW until then. Considering that the new plant offers an excess of that, all that remains now is to have it ready in the next couple of years.
This will be somewhat challenging because the valley that has been selected as the ideal location for the park doesn’t have grid connectivity.
To speed things up, the state government has split the jobs and allocated the projects to various contractors, including SJVNL, NTPC, and NHPC. Hopefully, this execution planning will be proven fruitful and the region will get to enjoy emission-free energy generation.
The solar power industry in India is developing quite fast, and the country has already installed a total of 35,7 GW. The government has established 42 solar park locations and is making them available to promoters and investors who are to put in $100 billion.
The 35% of the 100 GW target has been reached, but there’s still a long way to go so things are expected to speed up during 2021.
