Parliamentary Panel Recommends Revival of Non-functional 1 MW Solar Thermal Power Plant at NISE

A Parliamentary panel has asked the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) to revive a 1 MW solar thermal power plant at the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE). The panel has stated that the project led to an infructuous expenditure of Rs 46.26 crore of public money. The grid-interactive solar thermal power plant was designed, developed, and commissioned at NISE, in collaboration with IIT Bombay and other consortium partners. However, the plant is not functional at present. The panel has recommended that MNRE should explore the possibility of reviving the plant at the earliest and make it functional.

The committee noted that by studying the technology of this plant, three other similar projects have been set up and are running successfully in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. The panel urged that instead of using this plant as a mere demonstration project for R&D, efforts need to be made for studying the technology used in other plants of similar nature that are being run successfully to revive the plant. If the technology adopted could inspire other private companies, the revival of this plant remains a possibility.

MNRE had evaluated the feasibility of the project comprehensively, and the panel has opined that the loss could have been avoided. The panel has recommended that MNRE must take necessary steps to ensure that such losses do not recur. The solar thermal power plant was designed to have a capacity of 1 MW at Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) radiation of 600 W/m2.