WCA May 2012

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Wire & Cable ASIA – May/June 2012 25
India
Mahindra Solar
commissions 5MW unit
Mahindra Solar has announced the commissioning of
a 5-megawatt grid-connected solar power plant, using
crystalline silicon modules, in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
The plant has been established under the Jawaharlal Nehru
National Solar Mission (JNNSM) policy and had the
distinction of generating the highest output per MW of any
solar plant in India, by using tracker technology that
maximises energy from the sun.
The site is equipped to evacuate 55MW and the company
intends to scale up production capacity to match the output
capacity.
Mahindra Solar – India
Email:
Website:
AP Genco’s first solar
power plant
Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation Ltd (AP
Genco) has announced its first entry into solar power
generation with the commissioning of a 1MW photovoltaic
cell-based solar power plant at Priyadharsini Jurala
Hydro-Electric Project.
The project was allocated to AP Genco under Phase 1 of
the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) by
the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA),
a public limited company under the control of the Ministry of
New and Renewable Energy.
The project has been designed to provide annual energy
output of 1.4 million units (MU). The power will be fed into
the 11kV system of Central Power Distribution Company Ltd
(CPDCL) at Gadwal, Mahaboobnagar District.
Andhra Pradesh Power Generation
Corporation Ltd – India
Fax: +91 234 991 01
Email:
Website:
Power for Bangladesh
The Government of Bangladesh has initiated a programme
to increase its country’s electricity production. Wärtsilä has
been awarded two contracts to supply power plant
generating equipment to the programme. The total output of
these two plants will be over 200MW, and they will produce
electricity to be supplied to the national grid. Both plants are
scheduled to be operational before the end of 2012.
PowerPac Mutiara Jamalpur Power Plant Ltd, an
independent power producer (IPP), has ordered 12
20-cylinder Wärtsilä 32 generating sets with a total output of
approximately 100MW. The new power plant will operate
initially on heavy fuel oil (HFO), but the engines can be
switched to gas operation when a supply of natural gas
becomes available. The same owner – PowerPac-Mutiara
Consortium – has also ordered six 18-cylinder Wärtsilä 46
engines in V-configuration and auxiliary equipment for its
Khulna power plant project. The output of the Khulna power
plant will be over 100MW.
“These are important orders...for the Bangladesh Power
Development Board, which urgently needs this additional
generating capacity. Our ability to supply the needed
equipment within a very short time-frame was crucial to the
award of these contracts.... Furthermore, a unique feature of
our engine technology is that where required, they can be
easily converted to run on gas as soon as a gas supply is
available, and this too was a key factor in the award of
these contracts,” said Göran Richardsson, sales director,
Wärtsilä Power Plants Asia.
Council starts work
Mr Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman and managing director
of Mahindra & Mahindra, is to head the Solar Energy
Industry Advisory Council recently established by the
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
Confirming this to Business Line, Mr A N Srivastava,
director of MNRE, responsible for National Solar Mission
Coordination and Issues concerning manufacturing, duties
and taxation, said that the council is constituted from
industry members. The list of members is said to include
industrialists Mr Jamshed Godrej, Mr Baba Kalyani and Mr
Deepak Puri of Moser Baer, Mr K Subramanya, CEO, Tata
BP Solar, Mr HR Gupta, managing director of Indosolar, Mr
Vineet Mittal of Welspun, Mr B P Rao, chairman and
managing director, BHEL, and Mr BC Tripathi, GAIL
chairman and managing director.
Mr Srivastava said that the thrust of the committee’s
mandate is ‘manufacture’, so that the Indian solar industry
evolves with Indian-built equipment. The council’s term
ends on 31 st March 2013.
The constitution of the council is viewed against the
backdrop of a division in the Indian solar industry.
Developers are demanding freedom for imports, while the
wafer and panel manufacturers are asking for protection
from dumping from across the shores. Most solar panels are
imported as, due to a build up of inventory in the US and
China, manufacturers there are selling cheap, and Indian
manufacturers, such as Tata BP Solar and Indosolar, have
been badly hit by imports.
Solar Energy Industry Advisory Council – India
Transmission line orders
Sterlite Grid, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sterlite
Technologies, has placed orders for 765kV transmission
lines with KEC International and Simplex Infrastructure. KEC