The world’s largest solar park located at Pavagada in Tumakuru district of Karnataka, having a total capacity of 2050 MW is now completed. The facility dubbed ‘Pavagada Solar Park’ (a.k.a. Shakti Sthala) is fully operational and coincides with India’s 2022 renewable energy target of 175 GW out of which 100 GW is going to be from solar energy. This venture is the brainchild of Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and Karnataka Renewable Energy Development (KREDL).
The total 2050 MW capacity generating solar arrays was commissioned to be installed by KREDL of 1,250, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for 600 MW and SECI for 200 MW. The herculean project is divided into 8 blocks of 250 MW each with dedicated high voltage supply lines and pooling substations in case evacuation is imminent.
Image: PV-Tech
Initiated in 2015 with development kicking off in 2016, the project was officially launched in 2018 and the final phase of 200 MW capacity developed by SB Energy completed in December 2019. The solar park spread across an area of 13,000 covers over 5 villages, most of which is on barren land.
Interestingly, the project has been built on the leased land from farmers which have helped them have a permanent source of income. A total of 2,300 farmers will get ₹21,000/acre/year with a 5% increment every two years for the same.
The solar farm will also generate employment for the locals in the otherwise drought-hit region, thereby improving the socio-economic condition over the course of the next few years.
Industry Minister Piyush Goyal officially announced the commencement of operations in this mega solar park which sets an example in energy clean energy resources for others to follow.
Interestingly, Karnataka is the top solar energy state in India with 7.1 GW large-scale operational projects and 1 GW projects in works, according to the Merecom India’s Solar Project Tracker.
Via: The CSR Journal