By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, November 27, 2021: Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) will set up a 50-megawatt solar power plant in Sambalpur district of Odisha at a cost of Rs 301.92 crore.

The move to set up the green energy project forms a part of the public sector unit’s goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2024.

The project will lead to reduction of carbon dioxide emission by 91,020 tonnes per annum and carbon offsets of around 24,824 tonnes per annum, MCL said in a statement.

The MCL, a subsidiary of the Coal India Limited (CIL) has placed an order with a Chennai-based firm, which is set to establish this green energy project within 10 months.

The plant will cater to the captive power requirement of the MCL, which had earlier set-up a 2-MW solar power plant in Sambalpur in 2014.

The MCL has set a target of installing 182 MW of solar power by 2024 in order to become a net-zero energy company, aligning itself to use cleaner forms of energy for coal production.

The MCL had earlier introduced environment-friendly surface miner technology, which contributes over 95 per cent in coal production.

As another environment-friendly initiative, the company has successfully introduced vertical rippers for blast-less over-burden removal in Hingula and Kaniha opencast projects in Talcher coal mine area.