Now Indian Government companies to build a Solar Plant in Rajasthan

Major Indian government owned companies such as BHEL, Hindustan Salt etc. have come together to plan a massive 4000 MW plant in the desert state of Rajasthan on 23,000 acres of land. The plant will be connected to the national grid and 1000 MW is planned to come up in the first phase by 2016. I don’t know why these companies with no relation to solar energy have come together to build this mammoth plant. These companies do not seem to have the experience or expertise to set up a 40 MW plant let alone a 4000 MW plant. I think this is nothing but an election boondoggle coming up before the state elections that are to be held in Rajasthan in the next 3-4 months. Announcing huge infrastructural plans such as a multi-billion dollar refinery and the biggest power plant in the world will hopefully get some votes for the ruling party.

Rather than using up 23000 acres of land, would it not have been better if these solar plants were built on large rooftops and areas near the consumption centers. Evacuating the 4000 MW of solar power will require a huge investment in transmission and distribution capacity. It will also require investments in smart grid as solar power is intermittent and will generate most of the power during the sunlight hours.  Also I think that private parties would build and operate this plant much more efficiently, given the sloth and corruption prevalent amongst our government run companies.

Read more about Solar Power Plants in India – Types and Cost of Setting Up.