Auto parts makers plan 50-Mw solar capacity in Tamil Nadu...

 

A consortium of automotive component manufacturers in Chennai is planning to set up around 50-Mw solar power capacity in Tamil Nadu with an investment of Rs 300 crore over the next 2-3 years. The power produced from here will be used for captive purpose.

At today's rate, setting up a one mega watt of solar farm would cost Rs 6-6.5 crore.

Meanwhile, Mahindra EPC Services Pvt Ltd, the solar EPC arm of $16.2 billion Mahindra Group, today said it had commissioned two solar plants for the consortium. These include a 2.12-Mw plant for MM Forgings Ltd and a 1.06-Mw plant for Super Auto Forge Pvt Ltd located in Aruppukottai near Madurai. In addition, the consortium consists of IM Gears, Rane Group and Autotech Industries (India) Private Ltd.

Murali Shankar, joint managing director of Super Auto Forge Pvt Ltd, said more auto-components manufacturers were keen on joining the consortium.

Seetharaman, chairman and managing director, Super Auto Forge, said: "Individually, we cannot buy land in large scale." The five consortium members are planning to procure around 390 acres of land. Around 200 acres had already been purchased.

The Tamil Nadu government has imposed a minimum solar purchase obligation on all commercial consumers, which made six per cent solar power procurement mandatory from the total consumption.

Mahindra EPC solar parks to be ready by Sept '14

Mahindra EPC Services Pvt Ltd expects its two solar parks with a proposed capacity of (2x120-Mw) to be ready for occupation by September 2014. The company is expected to complete land procurement (around 600 acre) for each park by March 2014.

It is developing a solar park near Tiruchirappalli and another near Madurai with a total investment of around Rs 80-100 crore, said Basant K Jain, chief executive officer, Mahindra EPC Services.

"We are looking for more places in other states to develop solar facilities," Jain added.

The company has over 150-Mw solar projects in the pipeline in Tamil Nadu, and these are expected to be completed by the end of 2014.

Source

Read More...

Mahindra EPC's Successful Commissioning Of Solar Projects In Tamil Nadu...

 

After the successful commissioning of over 80MW of solar projects across India, Mahindra EPC is pleased to announce the successful commissioning of its first solar projects in Tamil Nadu, which were executed in a record-breaking 40 days for some of India's leading automotive component manufacturers.

It gives us immense pleasure to inform you that these captive consumption installations were commissioned under the REC Scheme, making this a one-of-a-kind project in Tamil Nadu - and proving the economic viability of solar PV for such applications.

At a pan-India level, Mahindra EPC continues to Rise through the country's solar sector. We are confident that our cost-effective, high-quality, and reliable services will maximize the value of our client's solar investments and will help us maintain our leadership in the solar EPC space.

This milestone marks a key victory for the booming solar PV industry in India and we humbly invite you to join us in celebrating this achievement along with the members of M.M Forgings, Super Auto Forge, IM Gears, Rane Group and Autotech Industries Pvt. Ltd.

Source

Read More...

CESC’s Maharashtra project to go on stream in December...

 

CESC Ltd, the flagship company of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, will make operational the 300 MW first phase of its Rs 3,300-crore Chandrapur (Maharashtra) project next month. The second phase, with another 300 MW capcity, will be operational by April next year.

The company has inked a pact with Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (100 MW). “Discussions are in an advanced stage with two private utilities. But I cannot reveal details,” said CESC Chairman Sanjiv Goenka.

He further said Spencer’s, the group’s fully-owned retail business, has pared losses and reported increased earnings. It reported a nearly 5 per cent increase in monthly sales per sq ft to Rs 1,363 during the September quarter, against Rs 1,300 in the previous-year period.

CESC reported a nearly 26 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 171 crore for the quarter ending September 2013. It had reported a net profit of Rs 136 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

A 3 per cent sales rise and a 3 per cent reduction in power purchase from the West Bengal State Electricity Board contributed to an improvement in its top-line.

Net sales stood at Rs 1,611 crore, up nearly 22 per cent.

“Plant load factor (utilisation of own capacities) increased by 1 per cent, which also improved profits,” Goenka said.

PLF at CESC’s three plants in West Bengal stood between 97.1 and 99 per cent. CESC shares closed at Rs 391.45, down 0.87 per cent, on the BSE on Tuesday.

Source

Read More...

Mahindra Solar & Kiran Energy to get $26 Million from IFC for 50 MW of Solar PV Projects…

Power India found that the Mahindra Solar One Private Limited and Kiran Energy Ltd. are planning to get around $26 Million from the International Finance Corporation (Investment arm of the World Bank) for the three Solar PV Projects.

 

The list of projects:

The proposed project involves the construction of three greenfield solar power plants in Rajasthan, India

• a 20 MW solar photovoltaic (“PV”) plant wholly-owned by Mahindra Suryaprakash Ltd. (“Mahindra Suryaprakash”, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mahindra Solar One Private Limited (“Mahindra Solar One”), an existing IFC client).
  
• a 10 MW solar PV plant , also wholly-owned by Mahindra Suryaprakash.; and
  
• a 20 MW solar PV plant wholly-owned by Solarfield Energy Two Private Ltd. (“Solarfield Two”, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kiran Energy Ltd. (“Kiran Energy”)
  

For evacuation of the power to the grid, existing transmission line (24km, 33kV) shall be used, which was commissioned in January 2012 as part of Mahindra’s 5 MW project and is now successfully evacuating power to the grid. Proposed Projects will therefore involve construction of only internal power transmission cables / lines up to the existing line.

 

The construction of the Projects is expected to commence in June/July 2012 and the power plants are expected to be commissioned in early 2013.

 

All the above three plants are being developed on adjoining tracts of land, and will utilize similar technology.

 

They have been awarded similar tariffs and will enter into identical power purchase agreements (“PPAs”).

 

Kiran Energy is also a shareholder of Mahindra Solar One, and the two companies are developing these 3 plants in close cooperation. IFC has previously provided a loan to a greenfield 5MW solar power plant developed by Mahindra Solar One, located very close to the proposed sites for the Projects. The 5MW project has been commissioned successfully and is already generating revenues.

 

Some more Literature on this topic:

http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/spiwebsite1.nsf/ProjectDisplay/SII32031

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-02/mahindra-kiran-energy-may-get-ifc-loan-for-india-solar-project.html

 

 

-------------------------------------------

Power India – A popular blog on Indian Power Sector

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Read More...

Solar under JNNSM… on the way of 250 MW capacity in two months…

According to MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy), around 90 MW of solar power projects from first back of JNNSM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission) Phase I are being commissioned in this month and remaining projects of 60 MW capacity would be commissioned by next month.

Spark learnt that with this commissioning, India will be having more than 250 MW operational solar power projects in next two months.

The first phase of the JNNSM aims to commission 1,000 mw of grid-connected solar power projects by 2013. As per the MNRE, all issues of financing and higher cost of raw material like solar panels and modules are being looked at, paving way for Indian banks to fund the projects. The banks and financial institutions are now more willing after the government convened a national level meeting of bankers a few months back.

According to NVVN (NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited), the power procurer under JNNSM, the domestic banks are now  participating to fund the projects. Most of the private companies like Mahindra’s and even smaller companies like Jakson Power are getting their funds from domestic banks.In the past, most solar power producers had to bank on foreign debt.
Farooq Abdullah, union minister for new and renewable energy, said on Monday in Mumbai that international banks globally have a plan to spend around $48 billion on energy excesses.

NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN), a subsidiary of National Thermal Power Corporation, the largest power producer in India, is handling the implementation of the first phase of the national solar mission.

Read More...

Mahindra to invest Rs. 1000 Crs in solar projects….

Mahindra Solar One, a Joint Venture between the Mahindra Group and Kiran Energy, is planning to invest around Rs. 1,000 crore in solar power generation to build a capacity of 100 megawatts over the next two years, continuing the trend of large business houses investing heavily in the sector.

 
As per the Vice-chairman and MD of Mahindra & Mahindra, Mahindra Solar One is targeting to become among the top three players in the solar industry in next five year’s time.

 

India's solar energy sector has attracted several last business groups such as the Tatas, Anil Ambani's Reliance Power, GMR and the Adani group, which last week commissioned India's biggest solar unit to generate 40 mw.

 

M&M has forayed into the renewable space through Mahindra Cleantech Ventures, which has set up three divisions - Mahindra Solar for power generation, Mahindra EPC for engineering of solar projects and Mahindra Off-grid solutions that offers rooftop setups for solar power generation.

 

Foreign companies are also bidding for projects as India aims to scale up its solar power generation capacity to 20,000 mw by 2020 from around 250 mw now.

M&M has recently commissioned its first grid-connected solar power unit of 5 MW in Rajasthan. 

Read More...