Keen on taking advantage of the national solar mission, the public sector Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) will make a foray into the renewable energy sector with a pilot solar power project in the state, to be set up alongside the Nathpa Jhakri project. Pilot Project The pilot project will come up at Kotla and Juri on land acquired by the SJVN for the Nathpa Jhakri project BHEL has already carried out a preliminary feasibility study for the project and the process for preparing a detailed project report will be started soon Executive Director of the SJVN RK Aggrawal says the pilot project will enable the company to select the best technology for harnessing solar energy Major projects will be set up in Rajasthan, Gujarat and other states suitable for harnessing solar energy The hydropower giant has already ventured into the field of wind energy with a 50 MW project and has decided to promote and develop renewable resources of energy in a big way. Under the solar energy initiative, it plans to add anything between 200 MW and 500 MW of solar power capacity during the mission, which will come to a close on 2022. During the entire mission to be implemented in three phases, additional solar power capacity of 20,000 MW is to be created in the country. The pilot project will come up at Kotla and Juri on land acquired by the SJVN for the Nathpa Jhakri project. Availability of land is vital for harnessing solar energy as on average about 5 acres are required for setting up a 1 MW project. The BHEL has already carried out a preliminary feasibility study for the pilot project and the process for preparing a detailed project report will be started soon. Executive Director of the SJVN RK Aggrawal said the pilot project would enable the company to select the best technology for harnessing solar energy. Major projects would be set up in Rajasthan, Gujarat and other states suitable for harnessing solar energy. He said with the declining cost of solar capacity addition, which had already come down from Rs 16 crore per megawatt to around Rs 12 crore per megawatt over the past two years, along with the facility of RECs (renewable energy certificates), solar power had become an economically viable proposition. The cost of solar projects would further dwindle and with the RECs fetching about Rs 10 per unit, solar projects would be quite attractive for power producers. The company has already invited tenders for setting up the 50 MW wind power plant on a turn-key basis at any suitable site in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharasthra. The estimated cost of plant is Rs 350 crore. However, the cost of generation is relatively high as the plant availability factor for both wind and solar power is very low compared to hydropower.