French company Technique Solaire has commissioned a total capacity of 20 MW (AC) of solar projects in Maharashtra. This is the second project of the company in India.

This ground-mounted solar project is built on 40 hectares of land near two remote areas of Ratnapur and Manwath in Parbhani district.

According to the company’s statement, it offered the lowest solar tariff in Maharashtra for this project. Its local subsidiary, JLTM Energy, was the winner of 20 MW (AC) of solar project in May 2018.

In May 2018, Mercom reported that the lowest tariff of ₹2.71 (~$0.0401)/kWh was quoted in the auction held by Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) for the development of 1 GW of grid-connected solar projects in the state.

In this auction, JLTM Energy was the lowest bidder that quoted a tariff of ₹2.71 (~$0.0401)/kWh to develop 20 MW.
According to the company statement, “The arid region of India has limited agricultural activity, and we have had the opportunity to acquire the project’s location and contribute to the economic development and local employment.”

The company received an investment of nearly €12 million (~$13.3 million), and the State Bank of India financed the debt.

The first solar power project built by Solar Technique in India, with a capacity of 5.5 MW, was commissioned in March 2017 in the state of Uttarakhand.

“This second project is five times more powerful than the first. It is also the largest photovoltaic projectt developed and built by the Solar Technical Group to date,” explains Julien Fleury, co-founder at Technique Solaire.

“Despite a very strong competitive environment, Technique Solaire intends to continue to thrive and occupy a growing and sustainable position in this market. Our goal is to develop 200 to 300 MW in India in the next three years,” says Manu Bishnoi, India director of Solar Technology.

On condition of anonymity, a senior executive of the company told Mercom that out of 1,000 MW of solar projects, nearly 980 MW of the same tender went outside the state, especially to Rajasthan through interstate transmission system (ISTS).

“JLTM Energy is the only company in the state to win the tender,” he said.

Commenting on how the project has helped in generating employment in the region, he said that during the construction period of the project, over 200 people were employed on-site while nearly 40 were working on a full-time basis when the operation and maintenance works were being carried out.

Asked about the future of the solar market in the state, he said that things are looking positive.

“Earlier, people were hesitant to invest in the solar market, but now, I think things are getting better in the state. With this, we hope that new things can be done at the administrative level,” the official added.

Recently, it was reported that Maharashtra retendered 1.35 GW of solar projects to be developed across 30 districts. The ceiling tariff has been raised to ₹3.30 (~$0.04)/kWh, up from ₹3.15 ($0.044) /kWh previously.

According to Mercom India Solar Project Tracker, the state of Maharashtra has 1.6 GW of large-scale solar projects in operations and has around 2.2 GW under the development pipeline.

Image credit:  Techniquesolaire