Piyush Goyal Inaugurates NLCIL’s Rs 1,302 Cr Solar PV Projects in TN

The three solar plants are having an installed capacity of 100 MW each and were erected at a cost of Rs 1300 crore, including operation & maintenance cost for 15 years.

The Union Minister for railways, coal, finance & company affairs, Piyush Goyal has inaugurated the Rs 1,302 crore worth of Neyveli Lignite Corporation India Ltd (NLCIL)’s three 100 MW solar power projects for commercial operation in Tamil Nadu.

These projects are located at Thoppalaakkarai and Sethupuram in Virudhunagar district and Sellaiya Sezhiyanallur in Tirunelveli district of the state.

The three solar plants are having an installed capacity of 100 MW each and were erected at a cost of Rs 1300 crore, including operation & maintenance cost for 15 years.

Moreover, the power produced from these plants will be provided to Tamil Nadu Power Generation and Distribution Company (TANGEDCO) at a cost of Rs 4.41 per unit.

The Minister in his inaugural address appreciated the CSR initiatives of the organization.

Meanwhile, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between the company and Anna University. This MOU was signed by Dr V. Manoharan, General Manager/ Centre for Applied Research & Development, NLCIL, Neyveli and Dr S. Ganesan, Registrar, Anna University, Chennai.

The MoU would help set up a pilot project on solar drying of lignite, in order to increase its caloric value from 2700 Kcal to 4350 Kcal. The cost of the pilot project is Rs 2 crore 69 lakh.

The company is a ‘Navratna’ profit making, Government of India Enterprise engaged in mining of lignite and generation of power through lignite based thermal power plants. It was established by GoI in 1956, following the discovery of lignite deposits in Neyveli, Tamil Nadu.