State-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd said it has commissioned the country’s second largest rooftop solar power plant.
The firm has installed a 5.76 MWp (Mega Watt peak) solar plant at its petrochemical complex at Pata in Uttar Pradesh, a company statement said to ET. The plant over the roofs of warehouses covers a total area of 65,000 square meters.
“With an expected PLF of around 15 per cent annually, over 79 lakh KWh (or units) of electricity is targeted to be generated for captive use of India’s largest gas-based petrochemicals plant,” it said.
Tata Power Solar had in December 2015 commissioned a 12 MW solar rooftop project in Amritsar, which produces more than 150 lakh units of power annually and offset over 19,000 tonne of carbon emissions every year.
India plans to have 40 GW of rooftop photovoltaics (PV) by 2022. This is part of its target of having 175 GW of non-hydro renewables capacity by 2022- made up of 60 GW onshore wind, 60 GW utility-scale solar, 10 GW bio-energy, 5 GW small hydro and 40 GW rooftop solar. It currently has 60 GW of renewable energy capacity.
GAIL Chairman and Managing Director B C Tripathi said the company as a marketer of benign natural gas is thrilled to integrate captive solar PV towards achieving lower carbon footprint at its installations.
Captive solar power initiative of GAIL will reduce carbon emissions by 6,300 tonnes per annum and help India achieve climate goals, the statement said. “GAIL’s solar rooftop project is also a step under ‘Make in India’ with Indian vendors entrusted for manufacture, supply and execution.”
