Last week, Statkraft opened its first large-scale solar power plant in India, marking a milestone in the company’s ambition to ramp up as a solar and wind power developer in the country.

The Nellai solar power plant is in the southern state of Tamil Nadu and will generate renewable energy equal to the annual power consumption of more than 500,000 Indian homes. Utilising an average of 300 days of sunshine, the 76 MWp solar power plant will generate more than 120 GWh of renewable energy per year.

“Statkraft has an ambition of ramping up as a solar and wind power developer in India and is currently focusing on the development of greenfield solar projects at utility scale. Nellai is the first project in realising this business objective and supports our strategy to strengthen our industrial presence in the solar segment and grow our customer-oriented business,” says Statkraft EVP International Power, Jürgen Tzschoppe.

The Nellai solar park has been developed under the Indian Group Captive-model where our customers own a minimum share of 26 percent of the plant and buy the electricity produced on long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).

German Belectric Photovoltaic India Private Limited has been responsible for the construction and will also deliver the operation & maintenance (O&M) services for the first three years of operations.

“We are very excited to complete our first utility scale solar park in India and intend to develop more solar projects across the country. Nellai will help industries in the state of Tamil Nadu meet their renewable energy requirements at an affordable price. We aim to become a key developer and operator of hydro, wind and solar assets, spreading our investments across different technologies and business models,” says Country Manager India, Rahul Varshney.

Globally, solar power is expected to grow by around 4500 GW until 2050, becoming the world’s largest source of electricity already by 2035. In India, solar power is expected to grow by more than 650 GW in the same period, being the main driver for India to increase its renewable share in the power sector from close to 40% today to almost 80% in 2050, according to BloombergNEF.

Statkraft has been present in India since 2004 and the company now owns a production capacity of 215 MW with an annual generation of around 1310 GWh. In addition, the 150 MW Tidong hydropower plant in Himachal Pradesh is under construction, scheduled for completion by the end of the year.

Energy Industry Directory: Statkraft