NTPC Commissions First Part Of Bikaner Solar Project, The Seventh Since August

The state-run power major NTPC Limited has commissioned the first part capacity of 150 MW out of 300 MW Shambu ki Burj-2 Solar PV Project at Bikaner in Rajasthan.

The company made this announcement in a regulatory filing to the stock exchange last week.

In an exchange filing, NTPC said that the project was declared commercially operational with effect from 29 September 2022.

With this, standalone installed and commercial capacity of NTPC will become 57,639 MW, while group installed and commercial capacity of NTPC will become 70,234 MW.

Shambu ki Burj is a ground-mounted Solar PV project located in Kolyat, Bikaner in Rajasthan, having two units. The first unit (Shambu ki Burj-1) with a capacity of 250 MW was commissioned on 6 August 2022.

Consistent Growth

The power major has been commissioning renewable energy (RE) projects on a monthly basis.

Besides Shambu ki Burj-2, the company also successfully commissioned entire capacity of 20 MW Auraiya Floating Solar PV Project at Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh on 16 September 2022.

Earlier, the public sector enterprise successfully commissioned four projects in August this year.

These projects include Shambu ki Burj-1 Solar PV at Bikaner (250 MW), Fatehgarh Solar PV at Jaisalmer (48.8 MW), Kawas Solar PV Project at Kawas, Gujarat (51 MW) and Gandhar Solar PV at Gandhar, Gujarat (10 MW).

Go Green

NTPC has a total installed capacity of 70.23 GW which includes 57 GW of coal-based plants, 6.5 GW of gas-based plants, 3.7 GW hydro capacity and 3.03 GW of renewable capacity.

The installed RE capacity of the energy major crossed 2 GW in June this year with commissioning of the country's largest floating Solar PV project of 92MW on the reservoir of Kayamkulam Gas Power Station in Alappuzha district, Kerala.

India's largest power producer is taking various steps to make its energy portfolio greener by adding significant capacities of RE sources.

By 2032, the company plans to have 60 GW capacity through RE sources, constituting nearly 45 per cent of its overall power generation capacity.

The power conglomerate has 3.9 GW of renewable capacity under implementation and execution and another 4.9 GW of RE capacity under tendering process, which will further bolster its green energy portfolio.