Tata Power Empaneled for 84MW Rooftop Solar Project By KSEB

Tata Power, India’s largest integrated power company, has been empaneled and won a contract worth Rs 400cr from the Kerala State Electricity Board Limited (KSEBL) on July 2, 2021 to develop 84MW solar rooftop project for domestic consumers across all districts of Kerala. As a part of this agreement, the company will implement projects through KSEBL of 64MW for individual households with solar capacity ranging from 3kW – 10kW and 20MW for residential / housing society projects with solar capacity ranging from 11kW – 100kW. For Kerela, long seen as a solar laggard despite being the first with a fully solar airport, or a floating solar plant, the scheme’s success is key to becoming more self sufficient for its power needs.

Soura Subsidy Scheme

The company has won this capacity in a bid announced by KSEBL in Feb 2021 under the ‘Soura Subsidy  Scheme in Domestic Sector’, Kerala, in line with the Phase II Subsidy Programme of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy.  The scheme has an eventual aim of  installing solar panels on 75,000 homes, which will contribute 350 megawatts (MW) of power to the state’s grid. The project has to be commissioned within three months of receipt of an order from individual residential customers. The company had earlier received a Letter of Award from KSEBL on 6th January 2021 to develop a 110 MW rooftop solar project which is expected to generate about 274 MUs of energy per year. Excess power is to be sold to KSEB at Rs 3 per unit.

Upon completion of this 84MW of solar rooftop project, it is expected to generate 120 MUs of energy per year, besides playing an important role of meeting RPO obligations for KSEB.

“We are delighted to secure the 84MW rooftop project from KSEBL and are proud to have this opportunity to support domestic consumers migrate to Green Energy. This project is testament of KSEBL’s trust in our commitment to drive India’s transition towards Clean Power through rooftop solar-based generation”, said Dr. Praveer Sinha, CEO & MD, Tata Power.

Relevance for Kerela

For Kerela, even as it has lagged on utility scale projects for various reasons, the rooftop focus is welcome as the state has a relatively higher proportion of independent housing units as compared to other states, making a strong case for rooftop solar. A more affluent and aware population should also make the case stronger for rooftop solar. Conditions on timely response post an order from a customer are also welcome, as discoms in many states have taken to sitting on such permissions for inordinately long times.

The state, which is net power importer till date, hopes to meet 25% of its energy requirements from solar by 2022 end. That would be close to 1000 MW.

For Tata Power, an early mover in rooftop solar with the widest network in the country, the empanelment is also welcome as it gets to service virtually captive demand in the state.