10 April 2012

Reliance commissions 40MW plant in Rajasthan powered by 500,000 First Solar modules

First Solar Inc of Tempe, AZ, USA - which manufactures thin-film photovoltaic modules based on cadmium telluride (CdTe) as well as providing engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services – has announced the commissioning by Mumbai-based Reliance Power Ltd (a Reliance ADA Group company) of a 40MW (AC) ground-mounted solar photovoltaic power plant in the state of Rajasthan that will provide energy to Mumbai.The recently completed project was built in just five months.

Comprising about 500,000 First Solar modules, the power plant (near the village of Dhursar in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan in northwestern India) is expected to generate more than 60 million kilowatt hours (kW-hr) of energy per year, making it one of the country’s largest solar power plants in terms of electricity generation. Covering 350 acres, it is 23 times the size of Calcutta’s Eden Gardens cricket grounds and is expected to meet the annual electricity needs of more than 70,000 average Indian households. It will displace more than 60,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year (equivalent to taking more than 25,000 cars off the road).

“We applaud India on its visionary solar policies and Reliance Power for their leadership in implementing them,” says First Solar’s chairman & interim CEO Mike Ahearn.

“This power plant demonstrates the huge potential of solar energy to help India meet itsgrowing energy needs,” says Reliance Power’s chairman Anil D Ambani. “It is also a testimony ofthe quick timeframe in which solar power plants can be built and commissioned.”

The Dhursar project is the first of several that Reliance plans to build with First Solar modules as part of a 100MW module order placed last September.

Tags: First Solar Thin-film photovoltaic CdTe

Visit: www.reliancepower.co.in

Visit: www.firstsolar.com