Fortum, a Finnish energy company, has commissioned 100 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects at Pavagada Solar Park in Karnataka. This is Fortum’s fourth operational solar project in India bringing the total to 185 MW.

“We are excited to be able to connect our fourth solar plant to grid. We look forward to continue to develop our business and look opportunities to leverage our knowledge and experience obtained in our projects”, said Kari Kautinen, SVP M&A and Solar and Wind development, Fortum.

“I am especially proud that we once again completed our solar project on time and according to plan”, said Sanjay Aggarwal, Managing Director, Fortum.

Based on Mercom India Research, the 100 MW has been developed in two blocks of 50 MW each. The project consists of 1,087,130 First Solar Series 4 modules, with inverters being supplied from TMEIC. Belectric provided the EPC services for the project.

A KSPDCL official told Mercom, grid synchronization of the 100 MW took 10 days. At Pavagada, grid synchronization is done at the rate of 10 MW a day.

According to Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, Fortum had won the bid to develop 100 MW of grid-connected solar at Pavagada Solar Park by quoting a tariff of ₹4.79 (~$0.074)/kWh in National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC)’s 500 MW solar auction under National Solar Mission (NSM) Phase-II, Batch II under open category.

Mercom previously reported that by the end of December 2017, power evacuation will begin from Pavagada Solar Park.

In October 2017, Mercom confirmed that the company has appointed Barclays to serve as its banking partner and facilitate the sale of a stake in its operational Indian solar assets.

Image credit: Mercom India