India’s first rural PPP solar power plant to come up near Pune
21 Dec 2009
Shive, in Khed taluka, 45km from Pune could herald a new development on the rural energy scene in India if a solar power generation unit being set up there is successfully commissioned.
If the experimental project succeeds the village would become the first in the country to have its own electricity generation plant.
The model could then be replicated across the country with public-private partnership.
The project is being set up as a joint venture by the Pune-based Thermax Ltd in association with the union government.
Unlike in conventional system of power generation, the plant would raise steam using solar energy which would then be used to drive a turbine to generate 250 KW power for the village. The plant, being built at a cost of Rs15 crore, however, will not be connected to the grid.
The union government is investing Rs13 crore of the outlay while Thermax will bear the rest of the investment burden.
