New Kurnool solar power project of 350MW commissioned by SB Energy in AP

The 350MW photovoltaic solar power plant built by Indian renewable energy developer, SB Energy, has been commissioned in Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh.

Housed at the state government-owned Ghani Sakunala Solar Park, the 350MW AP solar power plant will convert solar energy into electricity which will be enough to meet the power consumed by about 700,000 homes in the surrounding areas.

The Kurnool solar power project is estimated to be the seventh largest solar power plant in the entire world. Besides, it is the first solar power project to start operations under the Solar Parks scheme of the central and state governments’ joint initiative known as the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.

Previously, functioning under the name SBG Cleantech, SB Energy is the designer and developer of the newly commissioned Kurnool solar power plant. SB Energy is a joint venture between three companies, Japan-based Soft Bank Group, Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group and Indian firm Bharti Enterprises, which had injected a capital of $20bn to develop renewable energy projects in India.

Solar Energy News. Photo courtesy of maya picture/Freedigitalphotos.net.

The 350MW AP solar power plant marks the debut of Soft Bank in the Indian solar industry.

SB Energy’s Kurnool solar power project commenced operations at the end of last month, which is around 51 days ahead of the originally scheduled date that was committed in a power purchase agreement with NTPC.

The Kurnool solar power plant will sell the generated solar power to NTPCL at INR 4.63/kWh with the resulting electricity connected to the electric grid at 400K/V.

CEO of SB Energy, Raman Nanda on the Kurnool solar power project commissioning said: “We are deeply grateful to the AP government for their sustained cooperation, which helped us commission well ahead of time. This is our first step toward powering India’s growth with clean energy, and we hope to contribute much more in the future.”

Executive Chairman of SB Energy, Manoj Kohli added that the 350MW AP solar power plant will contribute its part to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of meeting India’s electricity requirements from clean renewable energy while stressing that the project illustrates SoftBank’s commitment in delivering clean renewable power in the country.