Odisha Solar Policy and it's Solar Highlights
Odisha or Orissa as it was formerly known is located in the south eastern side of the
country. It forms about 485 km of coastline towards the east of India. The capital city of
Odisha is Bhubaneswar. In total, the state has a total commissioned solar energy of
77.64MW, out of which 10.72MW was added in the FY 2016/17. With the household
electrification at 56%, Orissa is actively looking to invest in ensuring that power 24x7 is
delivered and solar has been looked at as an important prospect in that regard. That is the
reason that the state has set a target of 2,378MW of power to be generated from solar
power plants. In addition to solar, 350MW has been targeted from wind energy, 150MW
from hydropower and another 180MW from biomass based plant. Based on these numbers
alone it is clear that solar has been seen as a primary source of power in the state. Solar
power production in Odisha has been divided into four categories, with 328MW coming
from utility-scale projects, 50MW from water bodies and 1 GW capacity from large-scale
solar parks and 1GW from rooftop projects in the commercial and domestic segment. By the
end of the Financial year 2017/18, Odisha has set a target of achieving 297MW of total solar
installed capacity, with 125MW coming from rooftops.