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Bhadla Solar Park

Bhadla Solar Park is the largest solar park in the world as of 2021, and is spread over a total area of 5,700 hectares (14,000 acres) in Bhadla, Phalodi tehsil, Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, India.^[1]

The park has a total capacity of 2245 MW.^[1] The park had witnessed the lowest bid for solar power in India as of December 2020 at ₹2.44 (3.2¢ US) per kilowatt-hour.^[4][5] In September 2018, Acme Solar announced that it had commissioned India’s cheapest solar power: 200 MW at Bhadla.^[6]

Location[edit]

Officially recognized as a sandy, dry, and arid region with an area of about 45 km² (17 sq mi), Bhadla is located about 200 km (120 mi) north of Jodhpur and about 320 km (200 mi) west of the state capital Jaipur. The region has been described as “almost unlivable” due its climate. Normal temperatures in Bhadla hover between 46 and 48 °C (115 and 118 °F), with hot winds and sand storms occurring frequently. The nearest habitation to Bhadla is the village of Bap located about 50 km (31 mi) away, and the closest urban area – a tehsil town called Phalodi – is situated 80 km (50 mi) away.^[7]

Development of Bhadla Solar Park documented on satellite Sentinel-2 imagery

Auctions[edit]

Phase I[edit]

In the first phase, NTPC Limited auctioned 420 MW of capacity split into 6 packages of 70 MW each. The Finnish company Fortum quoted the lowest tariff of ₹4.34/kW⋅h. Rising Sun Energy and Solairedirect won 2 packages, each quoting a price of ₹4.35/kW⋅h. Yarrow Infrastructure won the remaining package quoting a price of ₹4.36/kW⋅h.^[8][9]

In December 2016, Solairedirect signed an agreement with Ecoppia, a PV panel cleaning solutions developer, to provide automated cleaning solutions to the project. Due to the park’s location in a desert region, it is prone to dust storms.^[10] Solairedirect secured a loan of ₹6.75 billion (equivalent to ₹8.0 billion or US$110 million in 2020) from IDBI Bank in February 2017 to help finance the project.^[11]

Phase II[edit]

The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) auctioned 250 MW capacity in the second phase for which 27 firms submitted bids.^[12]

Phase III[edit]

SECI auctioned 500 MW capacity in the third phase on 11 May 2017. ACME won 200 MW at a price of ₹2.44 (3.2¢ US) per kW⋅h. SBG was awarded the remaining 300 MW at a price of ₹2.45 (3.3¢ US).^[5] ACME commissioned the 200 MW capacity in September 2018.^[3]

SECI also actioned 500 MW for on December 22, 2017. The Hero Future Energies has been awarded 300 MW and SoftBank Group 200 MW.^[13]

Phase IV[edit]

SECI auctioned 250 MW capacity in the fourth phase on 9 May 2017.^[5]

South Africa’s Phelan Energy Group and Avaada Power were awarded 50 MW and 100 MW of capacity, respectively. Their bids of ₹2.62 per kilowatt-hour were the lowest tariffs for any solar power project in India. It was also lower than NTPC’s average coal power tariff of ₹3.20 per kilowatt-hour. SBG Cleantech, a consortium of Softbank Group, Airtel and Foxconn, was awarded the remaining 100 MW capacity at a rate of ₹2.63/kW⋅h.^[14]

SECI tendered bids for the remaining 750 MW capacity in June 2017.^[15] In this way, the entire solar park will be completed by December 2018, and with 2055 MW installed capacity, it will be the one of the world’s largest solar parks.

Commissioning[edit]

On 22 February 2017, NTPC announced that it had commissioned 115 MW of capacity at the park.^[16] An additional 45 MW of capacity was commissioned on 8 March,^[17][18] and 25 MW on 18 March.^[19] NTPC announced the commissioning of 20 MW capacity at the park on 23 March,^[20][21] and 55 MW on 25 March 2017,^[22][23] taking the total commissioned capacity of the Bhadla park to 260 MW.^[24] In September 2018, 1365 MW had been commissioned.