300 MW For Odisha

• State owned Neyveli Lignite Corporation will be looking at setting up 300 MW of solar in the Indian state of Odisha
• The location is yet to be finalized but media reports suggest it could be part of the solar park being developed by the state in Balasore
• Neyveli was recently in the news for pushing 50 MW of solar power plants in the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Government run public sector undertaking (PSU), Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd (NLC) is planning to set up a 300 MW solar power plant in the state of Odisha in India. It may come up in the Balasore district, where the state is developing a solar park as as part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM).

Quoting an unnamed source, Indian daily Business Standard reported that the company is expected to check the site and examine feasibility of the project.

Recently, lignite mining and power generating company NLC was in the news for announcing to set up 50 MW of solar power plants in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands of India (see 50 MW PV For Andaman & Nicobar). The two projects – of 20 MW and 30 MW capacity each – will be eligible for 40% subsidy on capital cost for installation under the guidelines of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). NLC will look at phasing out diesel gensets from the island region while promoting solar power.

As of April 30, 2016, the total commissioned capacity of grid connected solar power projects in the state was 66.92 MW, out of more than 7 GW installed in the country. Odisha's government is also planning to set up a 1,000 MW solar park in a 'cluster mode' as it lacks a continuous stretch of land required to build such a big power plant on one spot.The 1 GW park is expected to cost a total of 65 billion INR ($968.8 million). The park has been formally approved by MNRE, states the news report.