Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, in a statement, said that it has won its first overseas turnkey contract for a solar power project.
The Central PSU engineering firm that the contract is for a 8-mw grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Mauritius.
The solar farm will be set by BHEL at Tamarind Falls, Henrietta (Phase II) on EPC basis. The entity placing the order on BHEL is CEB (Green Energy) Company Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Central Electricity Board (CEB), Government of Mauritius.
The contract agreement for the project was exchanged between the Mauritian and Indian side during the visit of the Hon’ble Union Minister of External Affairs of India to Mauritius.
Competitive bidding
BHEL said that the project is funded under Government of India’s Line of Credit (LOC) and has been secured by BHEL through a competitive bidding process. The project will be executed by BHEL’s Solar Business Division, Bengaluru, and International Operations Division, New Delhi. The value of the contract was not specified.
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African presence
The solar project in Mauritius marks the consolidation of BHEL’s presence in Africa, where it has been active for more than four decades with electricity generation projects (with aggregate installed capacity of around 2,100 mw) and equipment supplies, in 23 African countries.
Solar expertise
BHEL has been contributing significantly to the development and promotion of solar energy over the past three decades. BHEL offers EPC solutions for both grid-interactive and off-grid, ground-mounted, rooftop, floating and canal top solar plants, with a current solar portfolio of more than 1 GW. In addition, BHEL also manufactures space-grade solar panels and batteries for solar applications.
Tamarind Falls
According to information available, the Government of Mauritius flagged off the process of setting up grid-connected solar PV plants near the Tamarind Falls Dam in 2018. In the first phase, a 2-mw facility has already been set up.
(Featured photograph shows the Tamarind Falls, a key tourist attraction in Mauritius)
