A fast-growing solar power industry in India's Rajasthan will soon be transmitting up to 8,000 megawatts of renewable energy to the national grid. The Government of India, the Asian Development Bank and the Clean Technology Fund are supporting this effort through the $800 million Rajasthan Renewable Energy Transmission Investment Program, which is also providing livelihood opportunities for local communities.
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Rajasthan, India
Rajasthan is India's largest state and home to a fast-growing solar power industry.
It expects to be transmitting up to 8,000 megawatts of renewable energy to the national grid by 2018.
The Government of India, the Asian Development Bank and the Clean Technology Fund are supporting this effort through the $800 million Rajasthan Renewable Energy Transmission Investment Program.
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Len V. George, Energy Specialist, ADB
"Since 2009, ADB in partnership with the Clean Technology Fund has been exploring opportunities to support clean power deployment in Asia.
"When we were working with the Government of India on identifying the best spots, or the best places that we could go and support renewable energy here, Rajasthan came out on top."
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The project will help implement a masterplan for renewable energy in the state including construction of 1,850 kilometers of transmission lines and 12 substations connecting wind and solar parks.
This will quadruple renewable energy transmission capacity in Rajasthan and get clean power from plants like the Bhadla Solar Park into the national grid.
The project will also ensure local communities benefit.
Around the Bhadla Solar Park, which will be India’s biggest when it opens in 2018 programs are helping people find productive jobs and access health and educational services.
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Aneesh Vijayan, Managing Consultant, Insight Development Consulting Group
"So the idea was to do something for the community, which is not land intensive. So we decided on two major elements. One is to set up a goat cluster. Where people can get into professional goat rearing."
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Nakhtu, Goat Breeder, Bhuji Ki Bap Village
"We are improving the breed of our goats. They are brighter in color, bigger, and heavier. The new breed can get us more money than the native breeds."
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An artist cluster is helping women earn money from their embroidery work.
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Meghna Chatterji, Cluster Development Manager, Rangsutra
"The women in the villages they practice beautiful arts in the form of embroidery which they call “Ralli” or “Gudari” in the local language. And we’re trying to bring out this art and develop the skill of these women."
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Gazal Saxena, Company Secretary, Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation
"We can educate people through solar, we can let them work through solar. We can get them education, we can get them job, we can provide everything through solar. When they will earn they will get respect, when they will be educated they will be getting respect, in the family, and in society."
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Len V. George, Energy Specialist, ADB
"Rajasthan today is already the leader in India in terms of solar power output and they’ve set the benchmark for future solar projects coming up in India."