Country’s largest electricity generator NTPC will set up solar power generation units within the

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premises of its existing thermal power stations.

Company chairman and managing director RS Sharma told Financial Chronicle that the company is in the process of preparing a "solar road map", which would be put before the board of directors for discussion in a month.

“We are going in a big way into solar power generation. The size of investment and targets will be fixed by the board at its meeting within a month. A decision is likely even before the Copenhagen climate change talks,” he said.

NTPC’s proposal is in sync with prime minister Manmohan Singh's national solar mission that seeks to make it mandatory for all new power projects to install solar energy capacity of at least five per cent of their planned thermal capacity in the same premises.

The mission also proposes use of vacant land in existing power plants for setting up solar power units.

The national solar mission, due for launch on November 14, has been approved in-principle by the prime minister’s council on climate change.

The Rs 91,684 crore mega-plan proposes to add 20,000 mw to India’s power generating capacity through solar stations.

The solar mission is one of the seven missions proposed under the national action plan on climate change unveiled by Manmohan Singh last year.

The action plan is part of India’s voluntary initiative to combat climate change challenges. At present, solar power contributes a minimal 2 mw to the country's 14,900 mw installed grid interactive renewable power.

As per the NTPC proposal, transmission infrastructure at thermal power stations would be leveraged to evacuate electricity from solar stations. NTPC has an installed capacity of 30,644 mw. It plans to raise the existing capacity to 50,000 mw by 2012 and 75,000 mw by 2017.

Earlier, the company had announced plans to set up capacities worth 1,000 mw through renewable energy sources, primarily wind.

As per the company’s business plan, it seeks to add 650 mw through wind energy farms. While small hydro projects were expected to add 300 mw to the company’s capacity, a total of just 15 mw were being planned through solar photovoltaic and solar thermal projects.