Even as the the Union power ministry has set targets for state-owned and private discoms to replace their 58,000 MU of thermal energy with solar power by 2025-26, the Mettur Thermal Power Station (MTPS) has invited bids for setting up a 50 kilowatt (kW) grid-connected ground-mounted solar plant as well as the rooftop-solar panels of 30 kW capacity.
The trajectory of power ministry is that the states should replace 20 per cent of 12,386 MU the thermal power with renewable energy by 2023-24, another 35 per cent by 2024-25 and the remaining 45 per cent by 2025-26.
However, some Tangedco officials are wary of meeting the power ministry’s expectation as the land required for to replace thermal power with renewable energy would be huge. “To set up a solar farm with 1 MW capacity, the land required is 5 acres. Also, setting up solar plants at thermal stations would demand better maintenance as the panels could be easily covered by the dust and ash, which would reduce the generation capacity. The panels have to be cleaned on a daily basis,” said an official.
However, to increase the renewable energy capacity in Tamil Nadu, the state government has been planning to set up solar parks in all districts and electricity minister V Senthilbalaji recently said that 3,673 acre government lands have been alloted for the purpose by the district collectors and studies will be undertaken soon to establish if the lands are suitable to set up solar parks.
The minister said that the state government has intended to increase renewable energy capacity by 20,000 MW and announcements have already been made for projects with 6,000 MW. “The study for a 7,000 MW hydro power project has also been positive. The focus is on wind, solar and hydro power,” he said.
