As part of the ‘Green Port Initiatives’ of the ministry of shipping, VO Chidambaranar Port at Tuticorin has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Solar Energy Corporation of India to set up a 5MW direct grid connect type solar power plant at the port premises.
The MoU was recently signed by the chairman of the port trust, S Anantha Chandra Bose, and managing director of Solar Energy Corporation of India, Ashvini Kumar, in the presence of the secretary to Government of India, ministry of new & renewable energy, Upendra Tripathy. The plant will be established under power purchase mode.
The plant, which will be set up at an estimated cost of 30 crore, is expected to be completed by March, 2017.The expected annual power generation from the plant will be 7.5 million units per year.
Reduction of carbon emission by the project will be 8,025 metric tonnes per year, making it a milestone in environmental aspect since the plant will be generating electricity without polluting the environment. The power generated by the plant will be fully utilised by the port trust.
The port trust had commissioned a 100KW solar power plant at the rooftop of the administrative building on August 14, 2015.
The annual power generation of the plant is 1.70 lakh units.
By Baishakhi Dutta
