Gallery: Largest Green Energy Plant in...

Both China and Africa have incredibly ambitious plans for massive energy projects sourced from the sun or wind, but India may beat them to the punch with the colossal project they have in the works. A consortium has formed between Airvoice Group and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam to build a 13 GW green energy plant in the rural area of Karnataka. Of the 13 GW, 10 GW will be from photovoltaics and 3 GW from wind farms making this new farm a double whammy.

Although China is currently planning a 20 GW wind farm and the Desertec project in Africa ultimately wants 100GW, the India project is expected to outpace China’s wind energy development. The two partners for this venture are Airvoice Group, an Indian mobile phone and commodity export firm, and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, a a joint venture between the governments of India and the district of Himachal Pradesh. They expect that over $50 billion will be invested over the next 10 years to make the project a reality.

The 13 GW project will be located in Karnataka, in the southwest part of India, where the developers have already identified 12 potential sites for the solar farms and 4 areas for the wind farms. The first phase of the development is planned to be online in just 36 months and will have 100 MW of solar and 200 MW of wind power. Chairman and managing director of Airvoice Group, Sanjay Kapoor, says, “Tendering for turbines will start in the next 20-25 days. We are in talks with several companies, including Eurowinds and Suzlon for sourcing our turbines.”

Via Cleantechnica and Hindustan Times

*Wind photo from Business Week and solar array from Wikimedia Commons