Fortum is building solar power in India
Fortum launched its operations in India in 2012, and right from the start the focus has been on solar energy. The new 250-MW solar power plant, Pavagada 2, was commissioned in August 2019. The Pavagada 2 solar power plant is included in the scope of sustainability reporting in 2019. Additionally, a new 250-MW solar power plant is estimated to start production in Rajasthan state in late 2020. In the India operations, Fortum applies a business model based on capital recycling which enables continuous investments in the building of new, renewable capacity. At the end of 2019, Fortum operated a total of 435 MW of solar power capacity in India. India’s solar power plants are susceptible to sand dust, and they traditionally use water to clean the solar panels. This is a challenge in India where acute water shortage prevails in many places. Fortum has started to use robotic waterless cleaning solutions. By the end of 2019, 54% of the solar panels are cleaned with a robotic waterless cleaning method, and the aim is to increase the share to 90% by the end of 2020.