Representatives of Nagaland Government and Halo Energie Pvt Ltd during the signing of an agreement to set up the State’s first Greenfield solar power project at Hotel Vivor, Kohima on March 10. (Morung Photo)
Morung Express News
Kohima | March 10
A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) was signed between the Halo Energie Pvt Ltd, a Hyderabad-based Independent Power Producing (IPP) company and the Government of Nagaland on March 10, to set up the State's first Greenfield solar power project.
The 20MW (Mega Watt) power project spread across 120 acres inside the Ganeshnagar Industrial Area in Dimapur, envisaged generating close to 28 MU (million units) per year and the tariff is fixed at Rs 4.14/unit kilowatt-hour (kWh) by the Nagaland Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The total cost of the project stands at Rs 120-130 crore, and the duration of the project, as per the agreement, is for 25 years.
The agreement was signed in presence of Advisor, Power, H Tovihoto Ayemi; Principal Secretary, Power, KD Vizo; and representatives from power department, chief engineer and finance department on March 10 in a brief programme held at Hotel Vivor, Kohima.
Speaking on the occasion Ayemi noted that though power, energy, gas etc are important components for development of any state or nation, Nagaland has very few state-owned generating projects as well as those owned by private companies.
However, he informed that the State have some hydro power projects nearing completion, and expected to possess own power generation capacity of more than 300-400MW in the near future.
Expressing happiness with the first solar power project in the State, Ayemi maintained that it would aid and add the capacity of power generation in the state.
To this end, he urged the Halo Energie to complete the project on the stipulated time and also encouraged young and innovative entrepreneurs to come forward to develop the power generation in the State.
It was informed that the plant initially was proposed to be set up at Jalukie, however, it relocated later to the present location.
Subsequently, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Department of Industries & Commerce and Halo Energie for land lease of 25 years.
“The power produced will be injected into the substation located inside the Ganeshnagar estate, which in turn will churn other industries/activities to kick start,” it was informed.
This green power will also be a stepping stone for the government in fulfilling the RPO (Renewable Purchase Obligations) compliance, as Nagaland currently has zero solar generation, and is unable to comply with Solar Renewable Obligation, which is liable to be penalised under the Electricity Act.
Halo Energie Director, Himadeep Nallavadla said the project would be a significant addition to own generation capacity of the State.
Currently, Nagaland has a requirement of close to 750MU per annum, the majority of which is being purchased from Hydro electric generation plants, he pointed out.
He informed that the company executives have started the initial land survey and design process and the execution of the project is scheduled to start in mid-2022 and will take close to eight months to commission.
Besides, Nallavadla maintained that through the project, local employment for both skilled and unskilled workers would be created. He also expressed gratitude the state government and all concerned departments for their collective efforts towards building the first solar project of this scale in Nagaland.
