The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in September for a joint venture which will implement solar energy programmes in the State, including the proposed 200-MW solar park in Kasaragod.
The MoU is expected to be signed in mid-September and the proposed entity has tentatively been named Kerala Renewable Energy Corporation, sources say.
Tripartite agreements have already been signed among the SECI, KSEB, and THDC India Ltd. and among the SECI, KSEB, and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency for funding 100 MW from the proposed solar park.
The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has proposed that the facility for generating the remaining 100 MW be set up under the 2,000-MW Viability Gap Funding Scheme of the Union government.
The solar park requires around a thousand acres, of which 500 acres is expected to be released to the board soon, KSEB sources said.
The proposed solar park is among a slew of projects ranging from rooftop solar photovoltaic facilities to floating solar farms lined up by a multiple of agencies in the State that will, taken together, generate more than 300 MW in two to three years.
The State’s rush to tap solar power is being led by the board, which expects to produce more than 250-MW of solar power in the near term.
The board’s other plans include 50 MW from floating panels in West Kallada grama panchayat, where an abandoned stone quarry will be used.
Rooftop facilities in board’s own buildings will generate 8.9 MW and another MW will be added to the pool from the soon-to-be commissioned facility in Kanjikode, the sources say.
The board will soon commission the 96-kW solar generation facility at Chaliyoor Colony in Agali.
