Guwahati: Amidst Assam’s peak power shortage and growing electricity needs, SJVN Green Energy Limited (SGEL) will soon set up three solar projects in a bid to generate 320 MW of power in the state.
Notably, SGEL is the renewable arm of SJVN Limited, which is a joint venture of the Government of India and the Government of Himachal Pradesh.
Official sources said that the electricity generated from the three solar projects would be supplied to meet the power needs of the state.
“SJVN Green Energy Limited is developing three solar projects of capacity 200 MW, 70 MW and 50 MW in Assam, thus amounting to a total power capacity in the state of 320 MW,” Geeta Kapur, chairperson and managing director, SJVN, said.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday performed the bhumi puja ceremony and laid the foundation stone for a 50 MW Solar Project being developed by SJVN Green Energy Limited (SGEL), a wholly owned subsidiary of SJVN, in Sonitpur district.
“With this, just in the last seven days, Assam has laid the groundwork of generating 130 MW of solar power. To make the state a green energy hub, we aim to produce 3000 MW of Surya Shakti by 2028,” Sarma said.
The 50 MW solar project is being developed in Sitalmari village, in Barsola Block under the Dhekiajuli Revenue Sector in Sonitpur district. It will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 291 crore.
The project will generate 101 million units of green energy in the first year, while the cumulative energy generation over a period of 25 years will be about 2,319 million units.
The energy generated will be supplied to Assam Power Development Corporation Limited at Rs 3.92 per unit.
Assam Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Ashok Singhal; Tezpur MP Pallab Lochan Das; MLA, Barchalla, Ganesh Kumar Limbu; additional secretary, ministry of power, Government of India, Ajay Tewari; director (finance), SJVN, Akhileshwar Singh; CEO, SGEL, Ajay Singh; and MD, APDCL, Rakesh Kumar were present at the foundation-laying ceremony.
Notably, the foundation stone for a 70 MW solar project in Dhubri was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 4, 2024.
“Looking ahead, SJVN aims to grow by setting ambitious targets to achieve the Shared Vision of 25,000 MW installed capacity by the year 2030 and 50,000 MW installed capacity by the year 2040. This Shared Vision has been formulated in line with the commitment of the Government of India of having 50 per cent of its power capacity from non-fossil-fuel-based energy sources by the year 2030,” an official said.
It may be noted that Assam faces a significant power shortage during peak hours, resulting in frequent load-shedding. The state has a demand of nearly 2500 MW during peak hours.
According to reports, Assam has a total installed capacity of approximately 379.7 MW, primarily provided by the Assam Power Generation Corporation Limited (APGCL). The peak generation capacity of APGCL is around 250 MW, leading to a shortfall of approximately 700 MW during peak periods.
In order to meet the power demand, Assam has relied on purchasing electricity from power plants outside the state. The state electricity board also procures power from the open market at a cost of Rs 10 per unit, which adds to its financial burden.
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