250 Megawatt Integrated Solar Power Facility Planned for West Bengal, India
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY 
on 08.26.08
map: Wikipedia — Haldia is near the bottom, on the Bay of Bengal
It may not be of the scale of the 5,000 megawatt project planned for Gujarat, recently discussed by the Clinton Foundation, but given the current size of most solar power plants around the world, this one is certainly big.
Solar Power & Materials to be Produced
Bhaskar Silicon Ltd has announced that it will be building a 250 megawatt integrated solar power complex in Haldia, West Bengal. The company claims that it will be the largest such complex in the world. The first phase of the project will occupy 200 acres of land, already acquired, and is expected to be completed by October 2009. An additional 600 acres of land is required to complete the facility.
In addition to the power generated, the plant has a target of producing 2,500 tonnes of polysilicon annually in the project’s first phase, and 5,000 tonnes by the second year of operation.
Initially Bhaskar will invest Rs 350 crore ($80 million), while total cost for the project is expected to be Rs 5,500 crore ($1.27 billion).
Solar Power Plant Sizes Expand
The current largest solar photovoltaic power plant in development is a 550 MW thin-film plant in California, while the largest solar-thermal power plant is a 500 MW plant in the Mojave Desert. Both of these are orders of magnitude greater than the previous record holders—in particular for the thin-solar plant, which is nearly 50 times are large as its nearest rival.
via :: The Hindu, :: DNA, and :: CleanTech
Solar Power
World’s Largest Solar Energy Project (5GW!) Planned for Gujarat, India
BrightSource to Build 500 Megawatts of Solar-Thermal Power in Mojave Desert
550 Megawatts: A Thin-Film Solar Record Worth Announcing!
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Electricity really improves the quality of life in third world countries by providing power at night. That way children can study, get an education, and improve the economic outlook of their country when they mature. Since these are PV, they won't be producing electricity at night when it's needed most. Hopefully, these will be backed up by a CSP or geothermal plant providing round the clock power.
Bangaldesh is rich in fresh water. If they could find suitable elevation, any excess electricity could be stored with pump storage.
That's a great news. At least Wes Bengal is really improving. This will be good for the poor people. We require to have such facility more.