Clinton Foundation to build solar power station near Pakistan border

The Clinton Foundation has agreed to build the world's largest solar power station close to India's border with Pakistan, a government minister has confirmed.

By Dean Nelson in New Delhi Published: 3:57AM BST 06 Aug 2009
Foundation officials have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create a solar park with the capacity to generate more than 5,000 Megawatts of electricity, Gujarat state's energy minister Saurabh Patel told The Daily Telegraph.
The project is one of up to 40 schemes aimed at transforming the desert border with Pakistan into the world's biggest solar energy hub.

The state government has signed deals with 40 energy companies, each planning to generate between five and 50 Megawatts of solar energy.
One plan will see the border area lined with large solar mirrors to transform the sun's rays into power.
Mr Patel said his government had allocated 1,500 hectares of land for the project and will also offer financial incentives for companies which begin generating electricity before December 2010.
The development emerged on Wednesday after India's central government in New Delhi unveiled plans to invest £11 billion in new solar plants and encourage 20,000 families to switch to solar by 2020. Government offices throughout the country must make the switch before 2012.
Gujarat's plans will be a major boost to the government's hopes to make solar financially competitive with electricity generated from coal-powered plants.
Local officials said Gurarat's border with Pakistan, Patan and Banaskantha districts are perfect for solar power generation. "Land availability is not an issue here. Sunlight is plenty and rainfall is sparse. It is an ideal location for solar power generation," said one official.
Energy minister Saurabh Patel said Clinton Foundation officials had visited earlier this year and are now considering a number of locations for their solar park. "They will bring in investors, create infrastructure and new technology and finance will be made available. It will be the world's biggest solar plant," he said.