Statkraft switches on 76 MW solar park in India

From pv magazine India

Norway’s Statkraft has commissioned a 76 MWdc solar plant in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It developed the Nellai solar park via the “group captive model,” under which customers own a minimum 26% share of the plant and buy the electricity under long-term power purchase agreements.

The solar plant features 140,000 PV panels and spans 773,678 square meters of land. It is expected to produce 124 GWh of electricity per year.

Belectric, a German engineering, procurement and construction specialist, built the plant. Its Indian unit will also provide plant operation and maintenance services for the first three years after commissioning. 

“Statkraft has an ambition of ramping up as a solar and wind power developer in India and is currently focusing on developing greenfield solar projects at utility scale,” said Jürgen Tzschoppe, Statkraft executive vice president of international power. “Nellai is the first project in realizing this business objective and supports our strategy to strengthen our industrial presence in the solar segment and grow our customer-oriented business.”

Oslo-based Statkraft has had a presence in India since 2004 and now owns 215 MW of production capacity, with around 1,310 GWh of annual generation. In Himachal Pradesh, it is also building the 150 MW Tidong hydropower plant, which is scheduled for completion by the end of the year.