From pv magazine India
SJVN Limited, a state-owned hydropower producer in India, has emerged as the winner of a 200 MW solar auction by the Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency (BREDA).
The company, which is a joint venture of the Indian government and the Himachal Pradesh state government, secured the project by quoting the lowest tariff of INR 3.11/kWh ($0.041/kWh) to develop the capacity on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis.
Construction costs for the PV project have been estimated at INR 1,000 crore ($135 million). BREDA has agreed to sign a 25-year power purchase agreement with SJVN to purchase the electricity.
“These projects will help SJVN in achieving its ambitious shared vision of 5,000 MW by 2023, 12,000 MW by 2030, and 25,000 MW by 2040 and simultaneously contribute toward (the renewable energy) capacity addition target of 175 GW by 2022 set by the government of India,” said SJVN.
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Small Hydro, A multibillion dollar, yet untapped sleeping giant can provide a cheapest source of decentralized energy and water for the rural India’s irrigation sector.
Fortunately Governments (central and state) are the absolute owners of thousands of kms of small canals and distributaries of irrigation water as also control underground and all other water resources. Land is a vital component in case of solar and wind installations but arrays of small canal and water based installation do not have this problem. Think of the ants moving in symmetrical queue and carrying loads of farm produce into their underground silos. For achieving this goal, no rocket science is required and these manmade canals and irrigation water distributaries can provide 100s of GWs of decentralized energy at a negligent cost. Micro hydrokinetic technology is no secret and can be adopted in a very short span providing the required energy for irrigation as also for small and cottage industries.
Unbelievable it may appear, but the smallest of canals and distributaries, owned by the government, criss-crossing lacs of kilometers in length can churn out 1.5 to 2 MW of decentralized electric energy per kilometer of length.