Update on 6 Jul 2015: Looks like these folks mean it. Adani has signed an MoU for 648 MW, when Rajesh Adani flew to Chennai and made a presentation to CM Jayalalitha late last week. TANGEDCO also announced that it has separately signed PPA for 31 solar power plants (at the same 7.01 tariff was what was given to Adani) for 436 MW. So that makes it 1084 MW in all. Now hang on, some news reports have said it is an MoU that the Adanis have signed, while others say it is a PPA. Will TANGEDCO care to clarify which of the two it is?

Being from Tamil Nadu, I no longer easily believe stories about large solar power plants in Tamil Nadu.

And you will not surely blame me for the scepticism. For a state that came up with a grand 3000 MW by 2015 policy in 2012, we have done not even 200 MW so far. And even that 200 MW is quite speculative.

Other states, even newborn Telengana has overtaken us, at least in signing PPAs (though I believe the story from there is not exciting when it comes to financial closure).

So, when I read for the first time a snippet that Adani would be putting up a 700 MW solar farm in TN, I predictably told myself “there we go again”.

Here's more about EAI

India's first climate tech consulting firm

We work across entire climate tech spectrum

Our specialty focus areas include bio-energy, e-mobility, solar & green hydrogen

Gateway 2 India from EAI helps international firms enter Indian climate tech market

Deep dive into our work

E-Mobility Bio-energy Solar Green H2

But it appears that this time round, the news has some credibility.

Learnt from this Business Standard news item that Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd (Tangedco) would purchase the entire power from the project at Rs 7.01 a unit for the next 25 years. Not sure if a firm PPA has been signed, but recall that TNERC had already cleared the 7.01 Rs/unit, so there should really be no legal hurdles in this, as long as both the parties mean business.

Adani’s are trying to get this project implemented latest by Mar next year.

So, let’s look at it again: Some 300 MW of PPA that SunEdison and a few others have said they have signed and now this purported 700 MW deal, comes to 1000 MW.

1000 MW by 2016 looks like just about a possibility. A far cry from the grand announcement of 3000 MW by end of 2015, but far better than NEXT TO NOTHING MW middle of 2015.