But a year after prime minister Narendra Modi announced it during his Independence Day speech in 2020, the plan continues to stumble over land issues.
NEW DELHI: The government is eyeing to build a global showstopper in Ladakh by raising the capacity of the proposed mega solar power project to 10,000 MW along with a 5,000 MW battery storage and 3,000 MW wind farm. But a year after prime minister Narendra Modi announced it during his Independence Day speech in 2020, the plan continues to stumble over land issues.
The original blueprint envisaged a photo-voltaic set up of 7,500 MW capacity split in roughly 70:30 ratio between Leh and Kargil districts, respectively. But the topography of Zanskar region of Kargil, where a packet of 2,500 MW was to be built, was found unsuitable for the transmission line. So the entire project was shifted to the Leh district with packets of 5,000 MW each in Hanle-Khaldo and Pang regions.
The battery storage was added in the revised plan to eliminate the need for two 900-Km transmission lines of 5,000 MW each for accommodating the additional capacity, instead of a single line in the original plan. “During the day, part of the solar power will be used to charge the batteries, which will feed the northern grid during evening peak hours. This will save transmission costs,” power and renewable energy minister R K Singh told TOI.
Even with the original specification, the project, first reported by TOI on January 12, 2019, was comparable to the largest in the world. The revised configuration will make it unique and raise the investment potential far beyond Rs 45,000 crore estimated earlier. No wonder it had the industry excited. Representatives of 50 players in the solar arena visited prospective areas long before state-run SECI and PowerGrid prepared their project reports.
A committee was in March tasked with identifying encumbrance-free land and submit its report within a month. About 25,000 acres of land in the Hanle-Khaldo region was initially designated for the Leh part of the project.
It has now been reduced to 20,000 acres after objections by the wildlife department. Villagers have expressed concerns over loss of grazing ground, though they are not opposed to the project. In Pang area, 185 km southeast from Leh along the road to Manali, 22,000 acres of non-grazing ground was identified. But this too has fallen foul over the presence of a water body and SECI has been asked to apply afresh for alternative land.
“Every time a parcel is finalised, some new issue is raised,” a source aware of the developments told TOI. In the latest instance, presence of a water body was “discovered” in the parcel of land in the Pang area after it was finalised on the basis of satellite mapping.
The twin-project is estimated to save more than 12,750 tonne a year of carbon emission, remove dependence on diesel gensets and create livelihood for the local population that depends on air travel for 6-8 months as heavy snow cuts off road connectivity with the rest of the country. Power from the project is to flow to Kaithal in Haryana, for which a transmission line is to be laid, mostly along the Leh-Manali road.
Source : TNN
