Conergy builds one of the largest PV plants in India

BANGALORE, INDIA: The Hamburg based company, Conergy AG, has erected in India one of the largest photovoltaic plants in the country.

With the 3-megawatt-strong power plant, Conergy will contribute considerably to the power supply of the local rural population around the small town of Itnal situated in the province of Karnataka in the future. As in many remote regions, the power supply in Itnal was very limited in the past: Only 120 households on site had access to electricity.

Power blackouts were commonplace. And the residents were only able to operate the irrigation pumps for their fields and gardens at most three to four hours a day.

With the erection of the power plant, now over 80% of the residents in and around Itnal have access to reliable and affordable energy – not just in their households but above all on their farms.

The solar energy from the power plant provides water pumps that can run longer and thus generate higher returns. It not only makes further agricultural growth possible in the future but also industrial growth in the region: Phone and Internet connections are now being integrated into the town and a new road will soon make the region more accessible for the movement of freight.

Conergy erected the megawatt-class photovoltaic plant upon the order of the local utility KPCL. On 17.3 acres, 13,000 solar modules supply over 4,000 megawatt hours of clean energy into the local grid a year. In the same time period, the plant avoids 2,000 tons of environmental poison in the form of CO2. In total, with the help of the power plant 400 water pumps can operate daily and thus 1,200 acres of farmland can be irrigated and used.

Conergy Asia head, Marc Lohoff, comments: “With the KPCL photovoltaic plant we are continuing our growth story in Asia. For the ambitious, Indian solar energy market the plant is a genuine milestone that shows the degree to which the market has matured. Where before only island solutions were possible, now the first large projects are making their arrival and are bringing light into the houses and water to the fields. KPCL is dedicated to creatively respond to the demands of the market and promote new renewable energy technologies.”

Strong growth: Indian NSM for 20 GW of solar energy by 2020
In tropical regions like India, where the sun shines longer and stronger, solar energy has incredible potential. The local government has also recognized this and in 2009 initiated its “National Solar Mission” project, which promotes ecologically sustainable growth through renewable energies.

India intends to generate more than 20 gigawatts of energy from the sun by 2020 with specific programs to promote island solutions but also with grid-connected solar energy.

Solarbuzz study: Apac region with 7 GW of project pipeline
Conergy will continue to benefit from this growth in the future and also from the rest of the Asia-Pacific region. Above all, markets such as Australia, India, Thailand and China will contribute more and more to the dissemination of solar energy in the region. China and India will become larger and larger sales markets for solar technology in the future, changing from almost pure producers.

According to a Solarbuzz study, over 112 applications for the construction of power plants with over one megawatt each have already been submitted in both countries. With this, the Asia-Pacific region today would report a project pipeline of over 7 gigawatts.