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Anil Sasi

New Delhi, Nov. 24 Engineering major Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) is betting big on solar energy and, in partnership with defence electronic company Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), is planning to set up an integrated photovoltaic facility entailing an investment of around Rs 6,000 crore.

The State-owned firms are likely to rope in a private sector partner for the venture, for which the process has been initiated.

“We are tying up with BEL and will scout for a private partner for setting up an integrated facility… It could entail a capex of around Rs 6,000 crore,” the Chairman and Managing Director of BHEL, Mr K. Ravi Kumar, told Business Line.

He said the integrated facility would include polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) ingots, conversion into wafer, solar cells and then modules and solar panel systems. A capacity of 200 to 250 MW is being envisaged to achieve economies of scale, Mr Kumar said, adding that the location of the proposed facility was still to be decided.

He said that the project would be keen to tap incentives on offer, including the Centre’s solar incentive package scheme, as capital costs were high and technology cycles extremely short. An annual production of around 2,500 tonnes of polysilicon, the key raw material used to manufacture solar panels, is being envisaged.

Over the past year there had been a huge increase in the prices of polysilicon in the global market. The prices have gone up from $25 a kg in 2000 to $515 a kg in August 2008.

Major global polysilicon manufacturers include Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation, Wacker Chemie, REC, Tokuyama, MEMC, Mitsubishi (Japan and America) and Sumitomo Corporation. These top seven companies account for over 75 per cent of the global production of polysilicon. It is expected that by 2015, as many as 175 new manufacturers could get into this sector, including a host of private sector Indian players that are entering the fray in response to the Government’s semi-conductor policy outlined in March 2007.

The Centre, under its new scheme to promote semiconductor fabs and other micro and nanotechnology units, has offered incentives of 20 per cent capital expenditure during the first 10 years for the units in SEZs and 25 per cent of the capital expenditure in non-SEZ units. Reliance Industries Ltd, Videocon Industries, Moser Baer PV Technologies, KSK Energy Ventures and Signet Solar are among the private players that have approached the Government with plans to set up units under the scheme.

More Stories on : Alliances & Joint Ventures | Non-conventional Energy | Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd

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