KOCHI: The Cochin Port Trust (CPT) plans to set up its second solar power plant with 100kW capacity in its pump house at Willingdon Island. “The Cochin Port is the only distribution agency which has been entrusted with the task of selling energy to other establishments on the Island. By embracing solar energy, CPT can considerably reduce its power procurement from Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). This procurement can be brought down by 15 to 20%. We are planning to install more solar plants next fiscal,” said a CPT official. The CPT had commissioned its first solar plant having a capacity of 150kW in March 2017. Currently, CPT buys 36 million unit energy per year from KSEB for its use and also for the use of other firms functioning in Willingdon Island. It buys electricity for Rs 6.25 per unit from KSEB. However, CPT uses only six million unit per year of the total power procured. The energy from the new solar plant will be utilized for running motors in the pump house and the rest will be send to the grid for utilizing in other areas.
The plant, commissioned in March, was constructed at a cost of around 1 crore and the new plant will be set up using Rs 85 lakh. The solar energy from the 150kW plant is used for meeting power demand in the quarters in the CPT. As per the directive of the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC), every buyer licensees shall purchase renewable energy not less than the certain percentage of the total energy it buys from KSEB. “The CPT has to generate four to five percentage of renewable energy based on that directive. Of the four to five percent renewable energy, 10 percent should be solar energy. Besides, the Union government is also promoting ‘Green Port’ initiative which consists of renewable energy generation,” said K Kunjali, deputy chief mechanical engineer, CPT. Currently, there are 11 buyer licensees, including CPT, in the state. “The target is to generate 800mW of renewable energy by 2022 . The licensees are taking steps to meet this target since we have given a strict instruction,” said an official with KERC. KERC constantly make appeals to the public to install solar panels on their rooftops since the hydro-electric power generated in the state is not sufficient to meet the rising energy demands in the future.
Source:TimesOfIndia
