The Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has approved the development of the last leg of its 300 MW solar project in Telangana.

According to its latest press note, the company’s board has approved the proposal to develop the third and last phase of the 300 MW solar power project in a recently held meeting. It involves the construction of 80.5 MW of solar capacity at various SCCL sites across Telangana.

Back in 2018, Mercom had reported that the company was planning to develop 300 MW of solar projects in captive mode on vacant lands at various locations of the company. The company had estimated the entire capacity development to cost nearly ₹1.4 billion (~$199.9 million) through a debt-equity ratio of 70:30. The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation had prepared the reports for these projects. Also, SCCL had invited expression of interest from interested parties for funding of individual projects.

In March, SECI floated tenders for a total of 81 MW of solar projects at Singareni Collieries. The tender included 34 MW of ground-based solar PV projects, 32 MW of rooftop solar projects, and 15 MW of floating solar PV power projects at different sites. A list of all the solar tenders can be accessed by subscribing to Mercom’s India solar tender tracker.

Other projects that have been approved in the meeting include the development of a 10 MW floating solar power project near the Singareni Thermal Power Project water reservoir in Jaipur, 5 MW on the closed Bellampally Dorli open cast mine, and solar projects to be developed on overburden (OB) dumps at Kothaguden and Chennur.

SCCL is a coal mining company jointly owned by the central government and the state of Telangana. It has turned to solar energy in recent years to become more sustainable. As per Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, SCCL has 20 MW solar projects in operation and 305 MW capacity under development as of June 2020.