Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) has proposed to set up its maiden solar park by establishing a 500 MW solar power station at Naripaiyur and nearby villages in Kadaladi block in the district at an estimated cost of ₹2,500 crore.
TANGEDCO, which initially proposed to set up a 4,000 MW (5x800) mega thermal power station in the block, has decided to put on hold the ₹24,000-crore project and focus on the solar park after Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami made an announcement to this effect in July.
About 2,500 acres of land, identified for the thermal power station in the coastal Naripaiyur, Kannirajapuram and S. Tharaikudi, would be utilised for setting up the solar park, official sources said.
TANGEDCO had written to Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and was awaiting its clearance for launching the project. It had also written to the district administration to classify the lands already reserved for the thermal power station and requested revenue officials to provide details of the extent of private, government and forest lands in the reserved lands, the sources said.
The thermal power plant announced by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in September 2016 suffered a setback after the expert appraisal committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) objected to disturbing the biosphere reserve in the Gulf of Mannar.
“We will have no problem in getting clearance for the solar park from the MoEF or Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), as we will be producing green energy,” the sources said. TANGEDCO would prepare a Detailed Project Report for the solar park after getting CEA approval, the sources added.
The proposed project would be the second largest solar power station in the arid district. Adani group has established 648 MW solar power plants, the world’s largest solar park in single location, in Kamudhi block on an outlay of ₹4,536 crore.
