Togo's 300 MW Solar Power Projects offers cheaper power: RK Singh

ISA has been taking various initiatives to assist the member countries to develop Solar Projects.

The Letter of Engagement of NTPC as PMC for development about 300 MW Solar Power Projects by Togo was handed over here today by Mr. Kondi Mani, Charge d’ Affaire, Embassy of Togo, New Delhi, to Mr. Gurdeep Singh, CMD (NTPC), in the august presence of Shri R. K. Singh, Minister of Power & RE (GoI) & President of ISA Assembly. Mr. Upendra Tripathy, Director General (ISA) was also present.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri R K Singh expressed his happiness over the development and stated that the RE project offers cheaper power. This resource must be harnessed by ISA member countries as RE makes it possible to supply electricity to people living in far-flung areas through a distributed power supply model. He underlined the importance of independent regulators upon stating that under recently evolving model prepaid smart metering helps in smooth billing and collection and the governments need not invest in the projects in which developers take care.

Togo is a country in West Africa and a Member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). The country has set an ambitious plan to achieve universal electricity access by 2030 with a focus on capacity addition in Solar Power generation. The Country has taken various initiatives to achieve these targets. The Country has been requesting assistance from ISA for the development of solar capacity in the Country.

ISA has been taking various initiatives to assist the member countries to develop Solar Projects. Presently there are 6 Programmes of ISA to develop Solar capacities in Member Countries which include Agricultural Pumps, Mini-grids, Rooftop Solar, Large Scale Grid-connected Projects, etc. The Programme on large scale Grid-connected Projects on the Solar park model was approved in the 2nd Assembly held on 30th October 2019. Implementation of ISA Programmes are member-driven and ISA Secretariat facilitates the implementation.

NTPC Limited is a Power Major and a Public Sector Company of Government of India, owning an installed Power capacity of more than 58,000 MW which includes 870 MW of Solar Projects and 1062 MW under development. Apart from the development of own Solar projects, the Company has been the nodal agency for the development of more than 4000 MW of Solar Projects on the IPP Model.

Engagement of NTPC by Togo for PMC, based on the endorsement of ISA: NTPC had submitted a proposal to ISA requesting endorsement of ISA to Member Countries to give Project Management Consultancy (PMC) to the member Countries for implementation of Solar Projects.

As per NTPC Proposal, in ISA member Countries where Solar Projects are implemented through competitive bidding, NTPC may act as a project Management Consultant (PMC). NTPC will carry out various activities for the selection of Solar Project developers (SPDs) on a competitive basis for setting up Projects on ownership basis and enter into Power Purchase Agreement with government-designated entities. The scope of PMC includes presentations to the concerned ministries and other stakeholders in ISA Countries for structuring of Projects, assistance to bring out enabling policy and regulatory framework for competitive procurement of Solar Power, bid process management for selection of Project developers on a competitive basis, structuring PPA, Roof/ Land leasing agreements, etc. The PMC charges of NTPC will be recovered from the selected SPDs. NTPC based on the feasibility may also develop Solar Projects by putting its own equity in Countries where Feed-in Tariff is in force.

ISA Endorsement of NTPC: The proposal of NTPC, after review by ISA Advisory Committee, was put on Swiss challenge for 28 days on the ISA website. Subsequently, the proposal was submitted to ISA Finance Committee. Based on the concurrence of the Finance Committee, the proposal has been cleared in the 2nd ISA Assembly.

Based on the above, a Letter of Endorsement was given to NTPC for extending PMC services and circulated to all the National Focal Points (NFPs) of ISA Member Countries. There will not be any direct cost implications for the member countries. However, the engagement of NTPC for PMC is the sole discretion of a Member Country.

NFP (National Focal Point) of Togo, based on the endorsement of ISA has sent a communication to DG ISA for engaging NTPC for the PMC services for development of Solar PV Projects/Parks on 70 Hectares of identified land in Dapaong (Dalwak Region: Capacity More than 33 MW) and on 500 Hectares of identified land in Mango (Savanes Region: Capacity About 250 MW). Togo is the first ISA Country to avail the services of NTPC.

(With Inputs from PIB)