Amp Energy Expands Tata Hitachi’s Solar Plant, Largest Distributed RE Project in East India

Amp Energy has expanded Tata Hitachi’s solar plant to 10.5 MW making it the largest BTM (distributed RE) project in Eastern India.

Tata Hitachi, a leading construction machinery provider in India has partnered with Amp Energy to set up an onsite solar power unit at their facility in Kharagpur, West Bengal. This project is a repeat order to Amp Energy from Tata Hitachi, which already has an operational 5 MW solar project supplying power to Tata Hitachi at their factory premises in Kharagpur since 2018. With this project, Amp has expanded the capacity to 10.5 MW making it the largest behind-the-meter (distributed RE) project in Eastern India.

The Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Amp for procurement of solar power is for 25 years and will generate 7,150 MWh of green energy in a year, equivalent to reducing 5,055 MT of carbon emissions annually.

The solar plant was commissioned on November 11, 2020, and the project execution was managed by following all compliances placed to manage the COVID-19 situation in India.

“Tata Hitachi is the best demonstration project of Amp’s Programmatic Approach of building sustainable partnerships through project types and geographies. We are supplying solar power to them through open access in Karnataka and behind-the-meter in West Bengal. This repeat order from them is a testimonial to our service quality and deliverability. This partnership will ensure that the growth in the construction sector is on the back of a solid ecosystem of solar power generation and demand in India,” said Pinaki Bhattacharyya, MD and CEO, Amp Energy India.

Tata Hitachi is a joint venture company between India’s Tata Motors and Hitachi Construction Machinery of Japan. Its product line-up includes a wide range of excavators, Rigid dump trucks, Wheel Loaders and Backhoe Loaders. It has two manufacturing facilities at Dharwad – Karnataka and Kharagpur – West Bengal.

In September 2019, we had reported that after commencing construction on Uttar Pradesh’s (UP’s) 120 MW open access solar power project, AMP Energy India was mulling over kick-starting construction on another 120 MWp open access solar project in the state of Haryana.