LESS SOLAR, MORE DEFENSE IN INDIA

India Slashes Solar Energy Goals For Defence Forces

Mridul Chadha, November 29, 2014 (Clean Technica)

“…The Indian defence forces have clarified to the government that they do not have any surplus land available to set up large-scale solar power projects. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had initially planned to set up 1 GW of solar power capacity at currently unused land owned by the defence forces…The Department of Defence and Services has now clarified that it would use the large tracts of unused land for military purposes only. This has forced the Ministry to reduce its initial capacity addition target to just 300 MW…This capacity is expected to be fully installed by 2019, and the Ministry would provide a viability gap funding of Rs 750 crore ($125 million). These projects will sell electricity at a fixed rate of Rs 5,500 ($91.7) per MWh for a period of 25 years…In order to support domestic solar module manufacturers, the government decided to ask its own institutions like the defence forces and public sector companies to set up solar power plants…[T]he government may now have to ask state-owned power companies like NTPC, BHEL, and NHPC to enhance their own solar power capacity addition targets.” click here for more

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