Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra inaugurates EESL’s 200 MW Small Solar Power Plant in Maharashtra under “Mukhyamantree Saur Krishi Vahini Yojna”
Mumbai: Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Devendra Fadnavis, inaugurated the EESL’s prestigious and first of its kind innovative 200 MW small solar power plant program in Maharashtra from Mantralaya, Mumbai.
The 200 MW small solar power plants are being developed by EESL & MSEDCL on the vacant / unused/ open lands of MSEDCL/MSETCL substations in Maharashtra under “Mukhyamantree Saur Krishi Vahini Yojana” for solarisation of Agriculture Feeders. As a part of the scheme, about 11 solar projects with a cumulative capacity of around 10 MW spread in Nashik, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Dhule, Latur and Wardha districts were inaugurated by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Devendra Fadnavis.
The inaugural function was also attended by dignitaries Shri Chandrashekar Bawankule, Energy Minister, Shri. Chandrakant Patil, Ministry of Revenue Relief & Rehabilitation, Shri. Sudhir Mungantiwar, Ministry of Finance planning & Forest, Hon. Shri. Madan Yerawar, Ministry of state – New and Renewable Energy.
Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) had signed a Power Purchase Agreement for installation of 200 MW small solar power plants. Under this program, EESL is providing turnkey engineering, procurement and construction services for power projects of size ranging from 0.5 MW to 2 MW. EESL is also providing operation & maintenance services for each of the power plants for a period of 25 years. Power generated from these small solar power plants would be fed to Agri. Feeders, this in turn, will benefit the farmers, DISCOM and the nation in following ways:
- Quality and reliable day time electricity to farmers
- Savings on the Transmission network cost, reduced T&D losses for DISCOM
- Contribute to the nation’s vision of 100 GW solar capacity by 2022 and will act as a catalyst to enhance India’s position as a global green power
This 200 MW small solar plant program will generate around 300 million units of electricity every year and will reduce emissions by approx. 0.293 million tonnes per year. Commenting on the successful commencement of the program, Mr. Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, EESL said, “We are honoured to be associated MSEDCL with this prestigious program. This is yet another milestone in our quest to become a sustainability driven company, committed to exploring clean energy solutions. Renewable energy is the best way of mitigating the impact of climate change.”
Speaking on the occasion Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri Devendra Fadnavis said “The solarization of Agricultural feeders is a unique project in the country, farmers are the major beneficiaries of the program as they will have access to the quality electricity during the day time. As the projects are going to be developed in the MSEDCL substation premises, the Transmission and Distribution (T&D) losses are also avoided by MSEDCL.”
