Areva joins Reliance Power for Asia’s biggest solar project
13 Apr 2012
Areva Solar, the Indian arm of French solar power equipment major Areva Corp, has bagged a contract from Anil Ambani's Reliance Power to build Asia's largest concentrated solar power installation, which will be situated in the generally dry and sunny state of Rajasthan.
"Areva Solar has been awarded a contract by Reliance Power Ltd to build a 250 MW concentrated solar power installation in India, which will become the largest in all of Asia," the company said in a statement from New Delhi today.
"The project will help advance India's goal of adding 20,000 MW of solar energy by 2022. It will result in the avoidance of approximately 5,57,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year compared to a similar sized coal fired power plant," the statement said.
Under the contract, Areva will build two 125mw plants using its compact linear 'fresnel' reflector technology, and will also provide construction management services for the project.
The first phase of the project is under construction, with a target of launching commercial operations in May 2013. The solar power plants will be located in Rajasthan.
"We will leverage our experience to help make India and Reliance global solar industry leaders. Following our success in the French wind offshore sector, this contract reinforces the Areva strategy in renewable energies," said the company's chief executive Luc Oursel.