New Solar Projects: NTPC

• 15 Jul 2021

Why in News

Recently, National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC) Renewable Energy Ltd (REL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Union Territory of Ladakh to set up the country’s first Green Hydrogen Mobility project.

• NTPC REL will also set up a solar park at Rann of Kutch in Gujarat from where it will also generate green hydrogen on a commercial scale under the Ultra-Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks (UMREPP) scheme.
  
  • Hydrogen produced from renewable sources is called green hydrogen.

Ultra-Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks (UMREPP) scheme

• It is a scheme to develop Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Power Parks (UMREPPs) under the existing Solar Park Scheme.
  
  • The scheme was rolled out by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) in 2014.
  • Solar Park Scheme is also a scheme of MNRE to set up a number of solar parks across various states in the country. It proposes to provide financial support by the Government of India to establish solar parks.
• The objective of the UMREPP is to provide land upfront to the project developer and facilitate transmission infrastructure for developing Renewable Energy (RE) based Power Parks with solar/wind/hybrid and also with storage systems.

Key Points

• Green Hydrogen Mobility Project:
  
  • NTPC REL has planned to ply 5 hydrogen buses, to start with, in the region and the company will be setting up a solar plant and a green hydrogen generation unit in Leh towards this end.
  • This will put Leh as the first city in the country to implement a green hydrogen based mobility project. This would be zero emission mobility in true sense.
  • This is also in line with the Prime Minister’s vision of a ‘carbon neutral’ Ladakh.
  • It will help Ladakh develop a carbon free economy based on renewable sources and green hydrogen.
• India’s Largest Solar Park:
  
  • NTPC REL will set up a 4.75 gigawatt (GW) renewable energy park at Rann of Kutch in Khavada, Gujarat. This will be India’s largest solar park to be built by the largest power producer of the country.
    
    • Kutch region in Gujarat, the largest salt desert in the country and host to two of India’s largest coal-fired power plants, will now add another feather to its cap.
• Other Major Projects of NTPC:
  
  • Recently, NTPC has also commissioned India’s largest Floating Solar of 10 MW (ac) on the reservoir of Simhadri Thermal Power Plant, Andhra Pradesh. An additional 15 MW (ac) would be commissioned by August 2021.
  • Further, a 100 MW Floating Solar Project on the reservoir of Ramagundam Thermal Power Plant, Telangana is in the advanced stage of implementation.
• Other Solar Energy Initiatives:
  
  • National Solar Mission : Solar energy has taken a central place in India's National Action Plan on Climate Change with the National Solar Mission as one of the key Missions.
  • INDC’s target: It targets installing 100 GW grid-connected solar power plants by the year 2022.
    
    • This is in line with India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) target to achieve about 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources and to reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35% from 2005 level by 2030.
  • Launch of ISA: The launch of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) was announced by the Prime Minister of India and the President of France in 2015, at the 21^st session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP-21) in Paris, France.
  • Government Schemes: Such as Solar Park Scheme, Canal bank & Canal top Scheme, Bundling Scheme, Grid Connected Solar Rooftop Scheme etc.
  • One Sun One World One Grid: India has an ambitious cross-border power grid plan ‘One Sun One World One Grid’ that seeks to transfer solar power generated in one region to feed the electricity demands of others.

National Thermal Power Corporation Limited

• NTPC Ltd. is a central Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Power.
  
  • NTPC REL is a 100% subsidiary of NTPC.
• It is India’s largest energy conglomerate with roots planted way back in 1975 to accelerate power development in India.
• It aims to provide reliable power and related solutions in an economical, efficient and environment-friendly manner, driven by innovation and agility.
  
  • NTPC has also been promoting usage of green hydrogen based solutions in sectors like mobility, energy, chemical, fertilizer, steel etc.
• It became a Maharatna company in May 2010.
• It is located in New Delhi.

Source: PIB