This solar dream could be a reality

The state government has, in principle, approved Asia's largest solar energy project to be set up near Nagpur.

The Haryana-based ACME Tele Power Limited who have initiated the project made a presentation to this effect before chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Thursday.

The Rs200-crore project is estimated to generate 10MW energy through solar power and requires 80 acre of land for installation. The chief minister has directed officials from the energy department to avail the land at any of the four identified spots near Nagpur.
An official from the energy department said that the project will be the largest in Asia.

"Solar projects need comparatively bigger land of 8 acres per MW Solar energy plants do not have any  recurring expenses and the capacity could be expanded subsequently. Since the  project is being approved  according to the central  government's solar energy policy it will get a subsidy  of Rs4.50 per unit," said  the official.

Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh assured officials from ACME the complete assistance of the government. Maharashtra Energy Development Authority (MEDA) has been asked to look after the issues like acquisition of required land, power purchase agreement and other concerning the matter.

Officials from Energy department said that sufficient resources for the generation of the solar energy are available in the State.

"The resources could be used to generate 4 to 6 KW of power for nearly 3,000 days using solar thermal and solar photovoltaic technology," said an official.