SCCL’s Solar Push Reaches 40 MW with 30 MW Manuguru Sync

Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) Chairman and Managing Director N Sridhar (IAS) announced yesterday  that the coal company has successfully completed the synchronisation of a 30 MW solar power plant at Manuguru, close to the site of its richest mines in Telangana.  With this, out of the phase-I production of 129 MW, the SCCL has so far completed the construction of 40 MW solar power, after taking into account the 10 MW  plant at Jaipur in Mancherial.

The government owned firm has promised to build 300 MW of solar capacity, of which 129 MW was planned in phase 1.

The firm’s press note also mentions that work on the proposed 50 MW plant at Ramagundam- III area and 30 MW plant at Illandu area would start in the next two months.

SCCL is a critical firm for Telangana state, with the firm jointly owned by the Government of Telangana and Government of India on a 51:49 equity basis. The Singareni coal reserves stretch across 350 Km of the Pranahita – Godavari Valley of Telangana with a proven geological reserves aggregating to whopping 8791 million tonnes. SCCL is currently operating 18 opencast and 27 underground mines in 4 districts of Telangana with a manpower around 48,942. The firm produced 64 million tonnes of coal in 2019.

The push to use solar power, or generate solar power using idle land or even abandoned coal mines has been picking pace in recent years, and will continue to escalate, one assumes.

SCCL plans include both ground based as well as floating solar plants on reservoirs including open quarries.

The Manuguru plant was constructed near old Manuguru village,  in an area of 150 acres at a cost of Rs 125 crore, with construction entrusted to BHEL, another PSU. (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited). The company hopes to earn Rs 11 crore per annum in energy revenues from this station.

As art of the domestic content requirement (DCR)regime, modules were sourced from domestic manufacturers only. The contract for  the remaining plants in the second phase including Bhupalpally (10MW), Mandamarri Bellampalli (43MW) and Kothagudem (37 MW) have been given to Adani Group.

The third phase has provisions for  floating solar power plants.

SCCL is a profitable PSU, with a turnover of Rs 20, 692 crores in 2018-19. It claims to have spent close to Rs 236 crores on environmental expenditure in the same year.