India’s Thar Desert Solar Project

India’s large project execution record has been quite pathetic in recent years due to policy paralysis, vested interests, delays due to environment issues etc. etc. Thinking that solar projects would be exempt from these systemic issues is a pipe dream. India recently decided to turbo charge its solar energy building capacity by developing giant solar farms in 4-5 areas of the country. These massive solar power plants with millions of solar panels would allow the already low price of solar electricity to become even lower due to economies of scale.

One of the first large scale ultra-mega power plants with 4000 MW of capacity to be built in the desert state of Rajasthan has run into a hurdle. This project where feasibility studies have started and 20,000 acres of land have been allotted is now stalling. The reason is that the state government thinks that it will have a major environmental impact on migratory birds that visit the salt water lake of Sambhar. Note the area of the solar project had already been cut down due to this reason earlier. This problem that has come again, is an issue because this has been the main reason why India’s economy is in a rut. There is speculation that the state government is not really concerned about the birds, rather it does not want to go ahead with this project because it was conceived during the previous government led by the Congress at the state and the center.

The massive project would generate thousands of jobs in the next 4-5 years and lead to curtailment in India’s large energy deficit. However, politics as usual trumps rational sense in India. India had earlier got 5-6 of its large centrally owned PSUs to form a JV to set up this large solar power plant.

Guardian

India has announced plans to build the world’s biggest solar-power generating facility on a salt-producing plain in Rajasthan, but experts say the massive project may still face ecological hurdles. Backers say the project will sit on dried-up land no longer required for salt production.

“There is almost 30 square miles of barren land surrounding the (Sambhar Lake) site which could be well-utilised for green energy production,” R.K. Tandon, chairman and managing director of Hindustan Salts Limited, one of the partners in the solar plan

The company providing the land for the project controls 58,000 acres (90 square miles) in the area, and the catchment of Sambhar Lake covers 60 square miles, according to the Sambhar Master Plan prepared by the state government.