Solar projects aggregating 600 MW have been grid-synchronized at the Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka’s Tumkur district so far, bringing the park one step closer to reaching its full planned capacity of 2 GW.

All of the 600 MW of capacity was auctioned by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) under the government’s National Solar Mission (NSM).

An official at Karnataka Solar Power Development Corporation Limited (KSPDCL), a joint venture between the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL), confirmed to Mercom that the entire 600 MW being implemented by NTPC is now grid-synchronized.

The KSPDCL official added that ACME Solar’s 100 MW of capacity represented the last of the projects that were connected to the grid in recent months. ACME’s projects were commissioned on January 31, 2018. Earlier in the month, another 50 MW project by Adani was grid-synchronized.

The remaining 450 MW of capacity from various other developers was all grid-synchronized by the end of December 2017. Mercom covered the commissioning of a portion of that capacity, including Tata Power Renewable Energy’s 100 MW and 50 MW projects, as well as Fortum’s 100 MW project.

When asked about the development of other infrastructure, the KSPDCL official said, “Everything is going per schedule. The KREDL has tendered 1,200 MW, soon the auction will be done. We have to be ready with the remaining infrastructure before those projects reach commissioning.”

The focus on completing infrastructure in a timely manner is likely to come as a sigh of relief for prospective project developers after the infrastructure installation was delayed by flooding in September and October of last year.

The development of Karnataka’s Pavagada Solar Park is no small feat. The park covers 13,000 acres and is expected to have total capacity of 2 GW when it is complete. To facilitate development, the park has being divided into eight blocks of 250 MW each that will have dedicated high voltage supply lines, pooling stations, and a pooling substation for evacuation. The Pavagada Solar Park was conceptualized in February 2015 and park development began in January 2016.

The recent successful commissioning of 600 MW of capacity represents a solid win for the Pavagada Solar Park at a time when speculation is heating up about another project planned for the park. Mercom recently reported that rumors are swirling regarding the possible cancellation of NTPC’s auction for 750 MW of grid-connected solar at the park.