REC Sees Captive Solar Consumption on the Rise in India

REC will supply 25,720 REC Peak Energy Series solar panels aggregating to 6.5 MWp to power a ground-mounted tracker system in Andhra Pradesh, India. All electricity produced – 12,289,500 kWh of clean, green electricity each year – will be used for the printing of the Eenadu, the largest circulated Telugu newspaper in Andhra Pradesh, owned by the Ramoji Group.

India’s electricity shortage due to rapid economic expansion together with high levels solar irradiation and high electricity prices paid by industrial customers make large-scale solar installations for self consumption a financially attractive alternative source of energy.

“Solar-generated power for captive consumption not only guards businesses against increasing electricity prices, it also provides good investment opportunity,” said Shailendra Mohan Bebortha, managing director India, REC. “We see self-consumption as a key business model for solar in India because it doesn’t depend on incentive schemes, has no restrictions on system sizes, has low level of bureaucracy and makes industrial customers independent from fluctuations in

“As a daily newspaper, we are dependent on a stable and reliable grid. To be more independent, we decided to invest in solar energy or more specifically, in captive solar consumption,” explained G. Rajendra Babu, general manager, Eenadu. “With increasing electricity costs on the one hand and the intermittent energy supply on the other, we can save a lot of money by using the energy produced by the solar installation itself and at the same time fulfill our corporate environmental policy.”

Being built by Photon Energy Systems Limited, a leading Indian EPC, the plant will be completed by the end of September, 2013.

“REC’s high efficiency and high quality solar panels with their 25 year linear power output warranty made REC a natural choice for this project. These modules coupled with Photon’s superior engineering expertise should result in the plant generating one of the highest energy per Wp in India” said Gautham Nalamada, CEO, Photon.

India’s power deficit is highest in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and increased from 3% in 2011 to 16% in January 2013. Thousands of small and medium enterprises have already closed due to the power shortage. The abundant solar irradiation level of more than 1,900 W per m2 and recently announced incentives and policies for the allocation of 1 GW of solar projects under the Andhra Pradesh Solar Policy 2012 make this Indian state a promising market for REC in 2014.