Wind Energy

M&M to Establish New Solar Power Charging Stations to Run Electric Vehicles

Mahindra to set up photovoltaic solar energy charge stations for electric vehicles. Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), market leader in the utility vehicles segment, is looking at setting up solar power charging stations to fuel electric cars.

The company currently offers electric cars under the Mahindra-Reva brand, but these are mainly for export as India does not have the facilities to recharge them. The group now plans to create the necessary infrastructure. The aim is to establish self-sufficient charging points as it rolls out electric cars.

"We are working on our electric car Reva, a green car that would run on clean energy. For this, we are looking at charging stations to run on solar power. We are the first company to commission solar power projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM)," Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman of the $14.4-billion Mahindra group, said after the commissioning of a 5 MW solar power station in Rajasthan.

"Electric cars sell the most in Norway. So, that is the future. The UK is the largest export market for Reva electric vehicles. But in India, we have to ensure that we have fuelling stations … it’ll take time," he said.

Mahindra Solar plans to play a larger role in solar power generation both as an EPC contractor in On-Grid and Off-Grid and as a developer setting up greater than 100 MW in the next 2 to 3 years. Along with their partner Kiran Energy, they have already won 50 MW of solar projects in JNNSM Phase 1B.

"India has abundant solar energy and it is imperative to use this renewable source of energy to meet our nation’s energy needs", said Mr. Zhooben Bhiwandiwala, Executive Vice-President and Managing Partner, Mahindra Partners Division.

"MNRE has created strong policies and mechanisms for solar development in India under JNNSM, which is driving the momentum for building solar power projects in India. These initial projects would be very critical for laying a strong foundation." adds Mr. Parag Shah, Managing Partner, Mahindra Partners Division.

"The company is committed to enhancing their presence in the sphere of Clean Technologies and will focus on creating solutions around various green initiatives that reduce the carbon footprint." concludes Mr. Parag Shah.

Setup under Cleantech Ventures – a division of Mahindra Partners, the Mahindra EPC business (MEPC) is focused on providing reliable turnkey services to build large scale grid connected solar power plants and rooftop solutions for developers and commercial organizations.

MEPC brings high quality Engineering, Procurement efficiency, Construction excellence (EPC) and world-class Project management services to deploy high performing projects on the ground.

The MEPC team has successfully commissioned its first 5 MW PV crystalline project in a record time of 100 days and is executing a 2 MW thin-film project at Lucknow. In 2011, we received the highest CRISIL-MNRE rating of SP1A for off-grid solar PV system integration.

www.mahindraepc.com

www.mahindra.com/