Reliance Power’s 100 MW Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Project at Dhursar commences generation

Reliance Power’s 100 MW Solar concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project at Jaisalmer District, Rajasthan, has been successfully synchronized with the Grid and power generation has commenced. The project is the world’s largest CSP project based on CLFR technology.

The 100 MW CSP plant is being built at a cost of Rs 2,100 crore, adjacent to the 40 MW solar photovoltaic project commissioned by the Company last year. The project has 25% reserve margin to meet 25 year PPA obligations.Rajasthan Sun Technique Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Power, was awarded the CSP project in December 2010, based on international competitive bidding conducted by NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (a subsidiary of NTPC) under the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission of Government of India.

The project is the largest investment undertaken by any private sector entity in CSP Technology in India. The project is financed through Debt from multilateral agencies like Asian Development Bank (ADB), Export Import Bank of the United States, Financerings Maatschappu Voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (FMO), Netherlands and Axis Bank.

The innovative CFLR Technology for the project is provided by Areva Solar the US subsidiary of the AREVA SA of France, which is simple in design, having minimal environmental spill, lesser land requirement and is more efficient than other solar thermal technologies available.

With this project, Reliance Power’s generation capacity has increased to 5,285 MW which includes 5,100 MW of thermal capacity and 185 MW of renewable energy based capacity.