CHENNAI: In a move to address the paucity of land for solar projects and meet the state’s Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) targets, the Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation Limited (TNGECL) has decided to lease barren and unused agricultural lands from farmers for installation of decentralised, grid-connected and ground-mounted solar power plants.
A senior TNGECL official told TNIE, “We plan to take land under the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM) scheme. For the planned solar panel capacity of 420 MW, we will need around 1,300 acres of land.” In the first phase, the corporation had already installed solar plants with a capacity of 3 MW in Ranipet and Vellore districts.
“We are waiting for approval from the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission to go ahead with another 11 MW. Once the lands are identified and approvals are received, tenders will be floated to select project developers,” the official said. Another official explained that these kinds of solar plants should ideally be located within a five-kilometre radius of power substations operated by Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited to avoid high cost of transmission power lines.
The official further said that the discom will sign a 25-year agreement with the developers to purchase power.