Ultra Mega Solar Parks in India

Solar power projects can be set up anywhere in the country, however the scattering of solar power projects leads to higher project cost per MW and higher transmission losses. Individual projects of smaller capacity incur significant expenses in site development, drawing separate transmission lines to nearest substation, procuring water and in creation of other necessary infrastructure. It also takes a long time for project developers to acquire land, get change of land use and various permissions, etc. which delays the project. To overcome these challenges, the scheme for “Development of Solar Parks and Ultra-Mega Solar Power Projects” was rolled out in December, 2014 with an objective to facilitate the solar project developers to set up projects in a plug and play model.

Details of Ultra Mega Solar Parks Scheme

• The scheme for “Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects” was rolled out by Ministry of New & Renewable Energy on 12-12-2014.
• Under this scheme, it was proposed to set up at least 25 Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects targeting over 20,000 MW of solar power installed capacity within a span of 5 years starting from 2014-15.
• The capacity of the solar parks shall be 500 MW and above.
• The capacity of the Scheme has been enhanced from 20,000 MW to 40,000 MW vide this Ministry’s order dated 21-03-2017.
• These parks are proposed to be set up by 2021-22.
• The MNRE Nodal Agency is Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) on behalf of Government of India (GOI).

List of Ultra Mega Solar Parks in India:

State	Project name	Location	Capacity (MW)	Capacity (MW)
			Operational	Planned
Andhra Pradesh	NP Kunta Ultra Mega Solar Park	Anantapur	500	1500
Andhra Pradesh	Kadapa Ultra Mega Solar Park	Galiveedu		1000
Andhra Pradesh	Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park	Kurnool	1000	1000
Andhra Pradesh	Ananathapurumu II Solar park	Tadipatri	400	500
Karnataka	Pavagada Solar Park	Tumakuru	2050	2050
Chhattisgarh	Rajnandgaon Solar Park	Rajnandgaon		500
Madhya Pradesh	Rewa Ultra Mega Solar	Rewa	750	750
Andhra Pradesh	Neemuch – Mandsaur Solar park	Neemuch		500
Andhra Pradesh	Agar – Shajapur Solar Park[7]	Shajapur	235.7	500
Maharashtra	Paramount Solar Park – K. P. Power / K. P. Group	Beed		500
Rajasthan	Bhadla Solar Park	Phalodi	1515	2255
Tamil Nadu	Kamuthi Solar Power Project	Kamuthi	648	648
Gujarat	Dholera Solar Park	Dholera SIR		5000
Andhra Pradesh	Radhanesda (Banaskantha) Solar Park	Radhanesda	700
Odisha	Odisha Solar Park	Planning		1000
	Total Capacity		4379.7	17853