By Our Reporter,
SHILLONG: The State Government has expressed its keenness on a proposal to set up two solar power plants in the State.
Azure Power, India’s leading maker of solar power equipment, has already identified the land for the proposed project in Ri-Bhoi and West Garo Hills.
“The company needs to decide on the land which has been identified,” Meghalaya Non-Conventional and Rural Energy Development Agency Director John E Rodborne said on Friday while expressing the government’s keenness on the proposal.
Some officials of the Azure Power are likely to visit the State soon to discuss the details of the project, Rodborne added.
The company has identified Patharkhmah in Ri-Bhoi and Tikrikilla in West Garo Hills districts bordering Assam as suitable locations for the two proposed solar power plants.
The areas have been selected for having abundant sunshine due to their proximity to the plains of Assam.
The company had submitted a proposal to the State Government to set up the two 5 MW solar power plants early this year.
“If we get the land identified for the project we would be keen on signing an MoU with the Government this year itself,” an official of Azure Power has said.
Around 75-80 per cent area of the land, around 25 acres, required for the 5 MW plant should be flat, the official said.
The company has proposed to make the entire investment, Rs 150 crore, for the two solar power plants once it receives the green signal from the Government.
Azure Power usually signs an agreement with any state for 25 to 30 years, the official said adding the company is currently installing a 100 MW plant in Gujarat which is considered to be the largest solar power project in the world.
