India’s state-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has signed an agreement with Madhya Pradesh Power Trading Company to supply electricity from a 50 MW solar plant, the biggest such unit in the country currently under implementation. NTPC has said that it will build the solar plant at Rajgarh, and it will start supplying electricity to the grid by 2013. Power from the solar plant would be bundled with unallocated supplies from NTPC’s upcoming coal-fired plants to make it affordable.
NTPC plans to achieve a capacity of 500 MW from renewable sources over the next five years. It has formed a joint venture with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan’s Kyuden International Corporation for this purpose.
NTPC announced the solar power deal on the same day that the Indian government asked all central public sector companies to set up renewable energy projects or to procure energy credits as part of efforts to boost sustainable development. The Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises has asked all such entities to set up renewable energy projects or voluntarily purchase renewable energy certificates (RECS), usually each of which is equal to 1 MW.