Rewa Ultra Mega Solar IN INDIA

While earlier projects by federal companies were awarded target tariff of Rs.4.50/unit and the bidding was on Viability Gap Funding (VGF) to reach the targeted tariff, Rewa project went ahead without any VGF support and achieved a first-year tariff of Rs. 2.97/unit. This has been the first project in India with rates of solar power below those of coal-based power, which is presently around Rs 4.50/unit and is expected to increase over the years.

Rewa is the first project in India to be supplying power to an inter-state open access customer, viz., Delhi Metro. This is also the first project in India where solar power would be used for railway traction.

The project got World Bank Group’s President’s Award for excellence for its transaction structure.

The bidding for Rewa went on for 33 hours on February 9 and 10, 2017. Power Purchase Agreements and all other agreements of the project were signed on April 17, 2017 in Bhopal in the presence of Shivraj Singh Chouhan Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Venkaiah Naidu then Minister of Urban Development and Piyush Goyal then Union Minister of Power, Coal, Mines and New & Renewable Energy. The project was part commissioned on July 5, 2018. Supply to Delhi Metro commenced on April 18, 2019. The project was completed on January 3, 2020. The project was formally inaugurated on July 10, 2020, by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.

The Project secured a place in the book on innovations, ‘New Beginnings’ released by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, which is a publication of Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances, GoI.

Rewa Solar plant is India’s first solar project to get funding from Clean Technology Fund (CTF), which is available at a rate of 0.25% for a 40-year period, and from the World Bank. This has enabled Rewa Project to have very low solar park charges, which was one of the contributing features behind the low tariff achieved in Rewa Project.

Minister of State for Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal informed the Lok Sabha in July 2014 that the government intended to construct a 750 MW solar park in Rewa.

PGCIL was awarded the contract for developing the 220/400 KV substation for the evacuation of power from the project site to different consumers. M/S Alstom was selected by PGCIL to develop the construction of substation work. Internal infrastructure for the project was developed by the RUMSL. RUMSL developed the project site which allowed developers to set up the unit without worrying about the evacuation infrastructure.