Khavda Renewable Energy Park

Geography glossary

Topic: Energy Resources of India: Conventional and Non-conventional · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Khavda Renewable Energy Park is a hybrid park, meaning one site that makes both solar and wind power. It is being built on the salt flats of the Rann of Kutch in Kachchh district, Gujarat, near the Pakistan border. It is planned at about 30 GW and is being built as the world's largest renewable cluster [5][6]. It matters because it is India's biggest single step towards clean power. It also shows both sides of desert renewables: huge output on one side, and transmission and ecology problems on the other.

Explanation

Why Khavda was chosen (cause → process → result)

  • Strong sunlight
  • The Tropic of Cancer (23.5°N) passes through Gujarat, so the sun stands high in the sky for much of the year.
  • Much of India gets about 300 clear (sunny) days a year.

  • Result: solar panels here get strong sunlight on most days.

  • Flat, empty land

  • The Rann of Kutch is a flat salt-marsh, low land where salt is left behind as water dries up. Almost no farming happens there.
  • Few people live there, so a very large single site can be set aside.

  • Result: it can hold far more panels and turbines than a normal solar park.

  • Western India has the highest solar potential (NCERT Class 12). Its dry, cloud-free skies and low rainfall suit large parks.

How a hybrid park works

  • Solar and wind work at different times
  • The sun shines by day, and solar output peaks at noon.
  • The wind often blows harder in the evening and in the monsoon.

  • Result: together they give steadier power than either one alone.

  • The same power lines are used for longer

  • Solar and wind plants share the same transmission lines (high-voltage power lines).

  • Those lines stay busy for more hours of the day, so they are used better.

  • Plug-and-play model: like a solar park, the government gathers land, roads, water and transmission lines in one place. Developers then just connect their plants and start.

Size and builders

  • Capacity: about 30 GW of combined solar and wind.
  • Area: about 538 sq km is the figure most often quoted. The hybrid park zone near Vighakot village was planned over 72,600 ha [5]. Sources quote different area figures, so in an exam, rely on the 30 GW figure and the location.
  • Many builders share one site: NTPC, NHPC, SJVN, NLC, GSECL and Adani are each building parts of it [5][6]. For example, NHPC is developing a 200 MW solar project at Khavda [6].

Problems it faces

  • Distance from users: the power is made far from the big cities that use it. It needs long Green Energy Corridors, which are power lines built only to carry renewable power.
  • Day-night gap: solar output falls to zero in the evening, just when demand peaks.
  • This creates a need for battery storage and pumped-storage hydro.

  • Without them, power may be wasted through curtailment (when the grid has to refuse power that could have been made).

  • Ecology: Kutch has desert and grassland ecosystems. These are not "wasteland".

  • Power lines are a danger to the Great Indian Bustard (GIB), a critically endangered large bird of Rajasthan and Gujarat. It has poor front vision, so it often flies into overhead lines and dies.

  • Since 2021, Supreme Court orders have asked for power lines in GIB habitat to go underground or carry bird diverters.

  • Imports: India has mostly used solar cells and modules imported from China. The PLI (Production-Linked Incentive) scheme pays companies extra for each unit made in India.

Where it occurs

  • Location: Khavda, in the Rann of Kutch, Kachchh district, Gujarat, close to the India–Pakistan border. The hybrid zone lies near Vighakot village [5].
  • Its place in India's "solar belt": large parks are clustered in western India (the Thar and the Rann of Kutch) and on the dry Deccan plateau.
  • Bhadla Solar Park: Jodhpur district, Rajasthan, about 2,245 MW on about 5,700 ha [4].
  • Pavagada: Tumakuru district, Karnataka.
  • Kurnool: Andhra Pradesh.

  • Rewa: Madhya Pradesh.

  • National setting: 50 solar parks of almost 37.5 GW were sanctioned between 2014 and December 2023 [3]. India's goal is 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030 [1]. Khavda's planned 30 GW alone is close to the combined size of all those sanctioned parks.

  • Global setting: it is being built as the world's largest renewable cluster [5][6]. India ranks third in the world in installed renewable energy capacity [2].

Don't confuse with

  • Bhadla Solar Park: a solar-only park in Jodhpur, Rajasthan (Thar desert) of about 2,245 MW [4]. Khavda is a hybrid solar-wind park in Gujarat, about 30 GW in size.
  • Ordinary solar park: makes power only from sunlight, so output falls to zero after sunset. A hybrid park adds wind, which often blows harder in the evening and monsoon.
  • Omkareshwar Floating Solar Park: panels float on the Narmada River reservoir in Madhya Pradesh, with 600 MW planned [7]. It saves land. Khavda is a land-based desert park.
  • Thar desert sites: Bhadla is in the sandy Thar of Rajasthan. Khavda is on the salt-marsh of the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat.

Prelims Hooks

  • Khavda Renewable Energy Park – Rann of Kutch, Kachchh district – Gujarat. It is not in Rajasthan.
  • Khavda is a hybrid (solar + wind) park of about 30 GW, not a solar-only park.
  • It is being built as the world's largest renewable cluster [5][6].
  • Builders: NTPC, NHPC, SJVN, NLC, GSECL and Adani [5][6]. The hybrid zone lies near Vighakot village [5].
  • Pairs to match: Bhadla – Rajasthan (Jodhpur), Pavagada – Karnataka, Kurnool – Andhra Pradesh, Rewa – Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar floating – Madhya Pradesh (Narmada).
  • Trap: a park near an international border in a salt desert, sharing transmission lines between solar and wind, is Khavda, not Bhadla.

Mains Points

  • Location factors (GS-I): Khavda follows the pattern of the western "solar belt".
  • High sun, about 300 clear days, and a position near the Tropic of Cancer give strong sunlight.
  • A flat, thinly settled salt-marsh with almost no farming provides a very large single site.

  • Wind that blows harder in the evening and monsoon makes it a good hybrid site.

  • Energy transition and grid (GS-III): at about 30 GW, Khavda is a big step towards 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030 [1].

  • Its distance from cities makes Green Energy Corridors essential.
  • The day-night gap calls for battery storage and pumped-storage hydro to prevent curtailment.

  • Its hybrid design partly answers both problems: steadier power and better use of the same lines.

  • Trade-offs and policy response: desert and grassland ecosystems and the Great Indian Bustard face risks from land use and overhead lines (Supreme Court orders since 2021). Dependence on imported modules is a supply risk.

  • Responses: put power lines underground or fit bird diverters in GIB areas. Use the PLI scheme to build Indian module manufacturing. Balance mega-parks with rooftop, floating and canal-top solar.

Related concepts

Read more

Sources

  1. 1MNRE — Physical Achievementsmnre.gov.in · tier 1
  2. 2PIB — India Ranks third globally in Renewable Energy Installed Capacitypib.gov.in · tier 1
  3. 3PIB — 50 Solar Parks of nearly 37.5 GW sanctioned since 2014; capacity of 10.2 GW establishedpib.gov.in · tier 1
  4. 4PIB — Solar Surge: India's Bold Leap Toward a Net Zero Futurepib.gov.in · tier 1
  5. 5PIB — PM to visit Kutch on 15th December and lay Foundation Stone of several development projectspib.gov.in · tier 1
  6. 6PIB — NHPC to develop 200 MW Solar Power Project at Khavda, in Kachchh district of Gujaratpib.gov.in · tier 1
  7. 7PIB — Omkareshwar Floating Solar Park showcases scale and ambition of India's clean energy goalspib.gov.in · tier 1