GRIDCO Will Buy 200MW Solar Power from NTPC

Grid Corporation of Odisha (GRIDCO), a public sector undertaking of Odisha State Government has signed a Power Sale Agreement (PSA) with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in Bhubaneswar for the purchase of clean energy.

The official statement of GRIDCO reads that under the Power Sale Agreement, GRIDCO will procure 200 MW of solar power at a price of Rs 2.50 Kwh through Inter State Transmission System (ISTS). The procurement period starts from the financial year 2024-25 for 25 years.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Principal Secretary, Energy, Nikunja Bihari Dhal. GRIDCO says that this is the cheapest solar power contracted for the consumption in the state. GRIDCO was also one of the first customers for power from SECI’s manufacturing linked solar tenders, helping the process kick off there.

With 200MW coming in, GRIDCO is expected to meet its Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO) in the coming days. Other officials were also present during the agreement signing: Trilochan Panda, MD, G B Swain, Director (F&CA) and Umakanta Sahoo, Director (T&BD) of GRIDCO Limited. Also present were M K Singh, CGM, Subodh Pradhan, AGM and G C Mahapatra, AGM of NTPC Limited and Lipsa Das, Additional Secretary and Sambit Parija, Additional Secretary Energy Department.

GRIDCO is in the business of transmission and bulk supply of electricity and other related activities exclusively in the state of Odisha. Last December, Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) had directed eight solar power developers to amend their Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with GRIDCO. The reason was that if GRIDCO had to pay penalties for not meeting the renewable purchase obligation (RPO) targets, the renewable energy developers too should share the punishment. In August, 2010, GRIDCO had signed PPAs with eight solar power developers to purchase 1MW capacity from each.

Odisha Renewable Energy Policy, 2016, has set a target of 2200 MW of additional solar generation capacity by the end of 2022 which includes rooftop solar projects and non-land based installations.

Recently Minister for New and Renewable Energy, RK Singh has made a statement in the Parliament that the Central Government has approved three solar power parks for Odisha under the Solar Park Scheme with a cumulative capacity of 340 MW.