Pavagada solar park to expand, become India’s largest amid concerns

Soumik Dutta | NT

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Solar Power Development Corporation Limited (KSPDCL) has decided to expand the Pavagada solar park with a 3,000 MW capacity addition (one 2500 MW plant and another 500 MW).

The solar park is located in Tumkur district of Karnataka with an existing capacity of 2,050 MW.

For developing the two solar power plants, the agency has invited expressions of interest to obtain land on lease from landholders in two villages of Tumkur district.

Completed in 2019, the Pavagada solar park as of April 2021 is the World's third largest photovoltaic (PV) solar park after the 2,245 MW Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan and the 2,200 MW Huanghe Hydropower Hainan Solar Park in China.

It is the second largest in India, but set to become India’s largest, thanks to capacity addition being planned. KSPDCL plans to set up a solar power plant with a capacity of 2,500 MW near the Ryapte Gram Panchayat area and another 500 MW solar plant near the Inturayanhalli panchayat.

The agency will require 10,000 acres and 20,000 acres of contiguous land parcels to develop solar parks in Rapte and Inturayanhalli village, respectively.

The Pavagada solar park was developed under the government of India scheme for “Development of Solar Parks and Ultra-Mega Solar Power Projects” introduced in 2014.

The park, which became operational in December 2019 and generates around 4.5 billion units of solar energy per annum, helps in abating CO2 emissions to the tune of 3.6 million tons annually.

The park is spread over approximately 12,937 acres of land. The balance of system for the solar power park was developed by Karnataka Solar Power Development Corporation Ltd (KSPDCL) so as to ensure plug and play mode of development in the solar park.

KSPDCL is a joint venture of Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd (KREDL) and Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI).

Divided in blocks

The entire solar park is divided into 40 blocks, each of 50 MW.

NTPC, SECI and KREDL were allotted 12 blocks (total 600 MW), 4 blocks (total 200 MW) and 24 blocks (total 1200 MW) respectively for the selection of Solar Project Developers under tariff-based competitive bidding.

To evacuate solar power from these blocks, KSPDCL has developed eight internal pooling stations and associated transmission lines to connect to the external power evacuation system, developed by Power Grid Corporation limited.

Pravagada was declared drought-hit 54 times in the last six decades. The solar park Shakti Sthala, built on 13,000 acres of land taken on lease from farmers at Rs 21000 per acre for the first five years, with a five per cent increase every two years, leverages the high average solar radiation of 5.35 kWh per square metre per day that falls in the area.

Land is the most critical requirement for utility-scale ground mounted solar projects that require about five to eight acres of land per MW. However, all is not well at Pravagada.

The region is close to the Jayamangali Blackbuck Reserve which is a habitat for the blackbuck as well as the Great Indian Bustard, listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN. A fact ignored while developing the project.