An ambitious new global light-emitting diode project, dubbed the Global Light Infrastructure (GLI), will see the largest ever photovoltaic (PV) system in the world constructed in India.
The global light supply network, which is part of the US$1.1 trillion Global Light Initiative, will include more than a thousand photovols, each containing up to 10 megawatts of photovolaic power.
India will be the world’s largest user of photostats, which can provide power for around 60% of India’s electricity needs.
India, which has been the world leader in PV since the early 1990s, has already built two large PV plants in the last three years.
The project is expected to create a total of 1,200 gigawatts of capacity over the course of 10 years.
The project, which was launched by India’s Centre for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (CEER), is expected at the end of this year and the total power capacity of the project will be around 1,000 gigawatts, which equates to an annual power output of over 3,000 megawatts.
The total cost of the Global LII is estimated at around $400 billion, with a total capacity cost of around $2.5 trillion.
The total cost will be paid by the government, the US and other investors, with the US taking a 40% share.
The initial investment of about US$50 billion has already been made and the final amount is likely to be even higher, according to an India Energy News report on Tuesday.
The cost of building the project was estimated at about US $300 million, but the Indian government is hoping to make the project cost-competitive with China, which built the world first PV plant last year in the US.
India is also the world´s second largest PV consumer after the US, accounting for about two-thirds of global PV demand.