Tamil Nadu's ambitious solar power project thrown open

Chennai: A 648 mw solar power plant, touted to be the world’s largest solar park at one place, promoted by the Adani Group was on Wednesday inaugurated by Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa through video conferencing.

The plant that has been built at a cost of Rs 4,550 crore in Kamudhi in backward Ramanathapuram district in southern Tamil Nadu is expected to boost the burgeoning solar power sector of the state.

Ms Jayalalithaa inaugurated the solar power plant, which is part of the state’s ambitious target of generating 3,000 MW of solar power, from the Secretariat here.

The private power generator had proposed to set up a 1,000 MW solar plant, but downgraded the project capacity to 648-mw as it could not find a single large tract of land for the project.

Five acres of land is required to establish a mega watt of solar plant. An agreement to set up the power plant As part of this agreement, the state government would buy the entire 648 MW solar power to be produced by the company at a price of Rs 7.01, a unit fixed by TN Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) in September 2014.

“This is a momentous occasion for Tamil Nadu as well as for the entire country. We are happy to dedicate this plant to the nation. A plant of this magnitude reinstates the country's ambitions of becoming one of the leading green energy producers in the world. I would like to express our deepest gratitude to chief minister and the government of Tamil Nadu,” Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani said.

The plant consists of 3.80 lakh foundations, 25 lakh solar modules, 27,000 mt of structure, 576 inverters and 154 transformers along with 6,000-km cables.