An interesting read here on how a major Indian port is planning to go solar in a big way.
The Vishakapatnam port is one of India’s major ports, and it is planning a 10 MW ground mounted solar power plant, located in land that apparently cannot be used for anything else.
Once completed, it will become the country’s first port to go fully solar.
And the solar power plant is not just a cosmetic thing, it is expected to provide all the power required by the port!
” “The 10-MW solar power plant will not only serve the entire power requirements of the port amounting to about 150 lakh units per annum, but also enable the port to divert the surplus power to the State grid,” explained VPT chairman MT Krishna Babu.
What is notable is that the authorities estimate that they can recover the investment in 5 years. This is at a capital cost of about Rs 6 crores per MW (approx $900,000 /MW at current exchange rates). Nice also to read that Net Metering facility has been activated for them, and the excess power will be exported to the grid, and thus no power generated is wasted.
This is an interesting development, and shows a trend that we be seeing soon throughout the world, where utility sectors such as ports, bus stations, airports, sewage and water treatment facilities and more, which have plentiful land on the ground or on rooftops will start going solar to become near-self-sufficient for their power needs.