PM Modi Lays Foundation Stone for World’s Largest Renewable Energy Park at Kutch

On 15^th December 2020, prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi laid foundation of of the world’s largest Renewable Energy park in Gujarat’s Kutch. The Renewable Energy project will account for a large chunk of India’s ambitious target of generating 175 GW in renewable energy by 2022 and 450 GW by 2030.  In march 2020, India’s Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) had unveiled plans to setup two Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks of 25 GW each, one at Kutch in Gujarat & other at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.

Khavda Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Park

This 30,000 megawatt capacity hybrid renewable energy park, spread over 1,80,000 acres, will be built along the Indo-Pak border at Khavda using both wind and solar energy. The mega project will not only help in better utilisation of a vast patch of desert, but also in securing the land border. There are two zones of this park. The first zone will be a hybrid park on 49,600 hectares of land, which means it will use sunlight and wind to generate electricity. The second zone will be spread over 23,000 hectares of land and will be wind power based only. The park will be constructed between Khawda and Vighakhot villages near India-Pakistan border. While the hybrid park will be just six kilometers from the international border, the wind park will be located at a distance of 1-6 kilometers from it.

Largest Solar Park in India: Bhadla Solar Park

Presently, Bhadla solar park, with a total capacity of 2245MW, is the largest solar park in India . As from the name, the solar park is located at Bhadla, a sandy, dry and arid region with an area of about 45 km². located in the Jodhpur district of Rajasthan. Bhadla is about 200 km north of Jodhpur and about 320 km west of Jaipur. Before Bhadla Solar Park, Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka with a capacity of 2,050 MW was the largest solar park. In March 2020, with 2,245 MW of solar project, Bhadla solar park has become the World’s largest solar park.