OREANDA-NEWS. Reliance Power and the Government of Rajasthan (GoR) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop 6,000 MW of Solar Power projects in the State of Rajasthan over the period of next 10 years. The MoU was signed at Jaipur in the presence of Hon'ble Chief Minister of Rajasthan Smt. Vasundhara Raje and Chairman of Reliance Power Shri Anil Dhirubhai Ambani.

The Hon'ble Chief Minister of Rajasthan also dedicated Reliance Power's 100 MW Solar CSP Project to the Nation. The project, located at Dhirubhai Ambani Solar Park at Pokaran in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan. Dhirubhai Ambani Solar Park, is the integrated utility-scale solar power generation complex, comprising of both CSP and PV plants, ever conceived and implemented in India. This is also the largest plant in the World based on Compact Linear Fresnel Technology (CLFR)

Rajasthan Sun Technique Energy Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Power, was awarded the CSP project in December 2010, based on international competitive bidding conducted by NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (a subsidiary of NTPC Ltd.).

The CSP Plant is expected to generate about 250 million kilowatt hours of clean and green energy annually, equivalent to consumption of 2,30,000 households, contributing to the nation's goal of energy security.

The project will reduce India's CO2 emissions by about 2,40,000 tonnes per year which is equivalent to CO2 sequestered by 6 Million tree seedlings grown for 10 years or taking 80,000 cars off the road..

The project is the largest investment undertaken by any private sector entity in CSP Technology in India. The project is financed through Debt from multilateral agencies like Asian Development Bank (ADB), Export Import Bank of the United States, Financerings Maatschappu Voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (FMO), Netherlands and Axis Bank.

The State-Of-The-Art CFLR Technology for the project is provided by Areva Solar the US subsidiary of the AREVA SA of France, which is having minimal environmental spill, lesser land requirement and is more efficient than other solar thermal technologies available.

Reliance Power Limited, a part of the Reliance Group, is India's leading private sector power generation company. The company has the largest portfolio of power projects in the private sector based on coal, gas, hydro and renewable energy, with an operating portfolio of nearly 6,000 megawatts. The company also has the largest captive coal reserves in the private sector, estimated at two billion tonnes. Besides, the company is developing three coal mines in Indonesia and is also developing coal bed methane blocks.