Astonfield Management Ltd, a US-based infrastructure project management company, will begin construction of renewable energy projects in West Bengal this year. The firm has received official allotments from the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA). The first three projects granted to it are a 10 MW biomass unit at Gangarampur in South Dinajpur, five MW of solar-PV unit in Bankura district and one MW of manure-to-power unit at Kalyani in Nadia. 'With the current progressive thinking and vision, West Bengal is poised to become the crown jewel for renewable energy technology in India. Astonfield Renewable Resources (ARR) is also looking forward to supporting this vision and executing a well defined programme to roll out renewable energy solutions in the state,' Astonfield Management director Sourabh Sen said here Thursday.
Of these three projects, the 10 MW biomass project will cost approximately Rs.600 million while Rs.1 billion would be spent for the five MW solar power unit and Rs.80 million for one MW of manure-to-power project. When completed, the five MW solar PV installations in Bankura will be the largest solar facility in India. Presently, the largest existing solar power plant is located in Maharashtra, which currently generates 500 KW of energy per day. Astonfield Renewable Resources intends to spend Rs.20 billion on renewable energy projects over the next two years in India. The Astonfield Group had earlier announced their India presence in Bangalore in July last year and begun their work with West Bengal. They decided to invest Rs.60 billion in India over a period of next two years.
Source: Indiaprwire.com
31st January, 2008