Bhutan: Construction of mega solar power plant begins in Wangdue Phodrang

THIMPHU: The groundbreaking ceremony for the solar plant with a capacity of more than 17 megawatts of electricity in Wangdue Phodrang was held on Thursday. The plant is expected to be ready in a year and a half and will produce around 25 million units of energy in a year, Bhutan Live reported.

The large-scale solar plant is being constructed on an area of more than 65 acres at Yongtru village in Sephu Gewog. According to Bhutan Live, the project will cost approximately USD 11 million, or more than 900 million ngultrum (Bhutanese currency). The Asian Development Bank will fund it through grants and low-interest loans.

Once in operation, the plant is not only expected to enhance domestic production but also reinforce climate change resilience.

“Through the Sephu Solar Project, we are looking at how we can enhance the energy in the winter to meet our domestic demand. Due to economic development, now demand has increased and we are importing from India. Importing from India not only comes at a high price and exorbitant tariff but also the long-term assurance is not there,” said Ugyen, project director of the Sephu Solar Project, Bhutan Live reported.

“We need sufficient energy to ensure that the people have continuous power and do not face any problems. Af-ter starting this solar project, we are expecting to generate about 500 megawatts of energy after three years,” said Loknath Sharma, Minister for Energy and Natural Resources. The project will be constructed through a joint ven-ture between a local construction company and an Indian company. The works are expected to finish by December of next year.

And once complete, the Druk Green Power Corporation will take over the operation and maintenance responsi-bilities of the plant, Bhutan Live reported.

“The power that is generated from this Sephu Solar will be directly fed into the grid. So, this is the first at the mega scale. So, there will be no storage as such. Energy generated from this plant would be directly fed into the grid. On average in a year, so from this Sephu Solar Plant will alone 25 million units of energy will be generated,” added the project director.

The project also has plans to develop several basic infrastructures for the people.

“Number one we are also at the community level blacktopping the farm roads through this project, we also have a plan for starting a milk processing unit through this project, and we also have a plan to set up public outreach clinic health. And we also have a plan to provide fencings for the agricultural land through this project, and also we have watershed management of Sephu community, especially the drinking part,” further added the project director, Bhutan Live reported. The attempt to provide a de-pendable electricity supply and lessen dependency on imports includes the development of the facili-ty. By 2025 and 2030, respectively, the government hopes to produce 500 and 1,000 megawatts of electricity from solar power facilities. (ANI)

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