First Solar, the US-based solar photovoltaic products and integration solutions company, is set to take up solar photovoltaic (PV) clusters in India close to existing industrial hubs.

Sujoy Ghosh, Country Head-India, First Solar Power India, who is on a visit to the city, said: “These solar PV clusters will be located close to industrial estates and seek to bridge the power supply gap for local companies.”

“Since such solar PV projects are modular in nature, we will have the flexibility to set up the required capacity and have the capability to ramp up,” he told Business Line .

“In the US, we have helped set up two 550 MW solar PV farms. It only shows that it is possible to set up much bigger farms than what we have seen in India so far,” he said.

Ghosh said that most industrial units in the country, particularly in the southern States, are short of power.

This provides an opportunity to develop solar farms.

“The model will seek to tie up with local potential industrial buyers and sign up for power purchase pacts. This will also help us and similar developers to achieve financial closure for the project as they will become bankable,” he explained.

The cost of power generation is going up for projects based on fossil fuels and that of renewable energy sources coming down.

“Over 25 per cent of the installed capacity of 1,400 MW of solar PV units have been handled by First Solar as a supplier and an implementation partner.

“We will now play a much bigger role both as developer and turnkey solutions provider,” he said.

Lately, the power tariffs have gone up by about 15-35 per cent depending upon the State.

But significantly, for a company which requires about 50 MW and is short of say about 10 MW, such solar farms could bridge the gap, he said.

rishikumar.vundi@thehindu.co.in

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