GOVT TO INSTALL GRID CONNECTED SOLAR POWER PLANTS IN ALL RAIPUR GOVT BUILDINGS

The Chhattisgarh Government will implement 21,255 Kw grid connected solar PV system scheme for Government buildings located in Raipur city under Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model.

A total of 159 Government schools in Chhattisgarh were using solar energy to meet their power supply requirements during the last financial year (2016-17), officials informed.

The State currently also has total renewable energy potential of 4,500 MW which includes solar (grid connected and roof top), wind biomass and small hydro, they informed.

It has also planned to install solar powered pump sets for agriculture consumers which will benefit 16,000 consumers.

It may be recalled that there are significantly more number of villages which are to be electrified in Chhattisgarh using the off-grid (solar) mode than the grid-based (conventional power supply.

The State has also launched a ‘Solar Community Irrigation Project’ for drawing water extracted using solar pumps for supplying to the agricultural land of farmers across the State.

The Central Government has released Rs 12 lakh each for Raipur and Bilaspur for the Solar City project, officials informed.

The total sanctioned funds for the two cities is Rs 43 lakh each.

A total amount of Rs 67.01 crore has been sanctioned for preparation of master plans, solar city cells, promotional activities and installation of renewable energy projects and an amount of Rs 24.16 crore has been released, so far, under Solar City Programme.

Out of 7 identified solar cities in Maharashtra, an amount of Rs 7.74 crore has been sanctioned and an amount of Rs 3.04 crore has been released for 6 solar cities.

Chhattisgarh will procure additional power from renewable energy sources to the tune of approximately 700 MW by FY 2018, officials informed.

With this the average power purchase cost for Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Ltd (CSPDCL) based on the above power availability will increase from 2.58 Rs/kWh in FY 2015-16 to 3.12 Rs/kWh in FY 2018, they informed.

The rates have been derived based on cost of power at existing rates and considering no escalation in power purchase cost since it is passing through for the distribution company.

Chhattisgarh has two ‘waste-to-energy’ power plants proposed with a total installed capacity of 10 MW, officials informed.

Notably, five Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW) to energy plants with a cumulative installed capacity of 66.5 MW are currently operational/under trial run in the country.

The Chhattisgarh Government has decided to set up a ‘Waste to Energy’ power generation plant in Durg district.

The Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) will be installing Grid Connected Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant in seven locations of the State.

The SPV plants would be would be installed at District Hospital, Bijapur, Bastar, PWD Head office building, Naya Raipur, District Panchayat, BIjapur, Bastar, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd, at Bharari in Bilaspur, Govt Digvijay College, Rajnandgaon, Indira Art & Music University, Khairagarh, Rajnandgaon district and CSPSCL Training Institute, Gudhiyari, Raipur, officials informed.

Chhattisgarh will procure additional power from renewable energy sources to the tune of approximately 700 MW by FY 2018, officials informed.

With this the average power purchase cost for Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Ltd (CSPDCL) based on the above power availability will increase from 2.58 Rs/kWh in FY 2015-16 to 3.12 Rs/kWh in FY 2018, they informed.

The rates have been derived based on cost of power at existing rates and considering no escalation in power purchase cost since it is passing through for the distribution company.

CREDA has invested Rs 400 crores during last 11 years in developing infrastructure for solar power generation which had resulted in 40 MW of electricity being generated from non conventional energy sources.

The agency will be installing a total of 10,000 submersible and surface solar photo voltaic (SPV) irrigation pumps in farm lands soon across the State.

The SPV Pumps shall be provided with lightening and over voltage protection. The principal aim in this protection is to reduce the over voltage to a tolerable value before it reaches the PV or other sub-systems components.

The source of over voltage can be lightening or any other atmospheric disturbance, officials informed.

The State Government has already commenced preparation for setting up 51,000 solar powered irrigation pumps in a span of two-and-half-years in the State.

The Government has set the target of setting up 11,000 solar pumps in the current financial year till March 2017 and the rest during the next two years.

Chhattisgarh Government is also planning to add 2640 MW of additional renewable energy capacity by financial year 2018-19, officials informed. There had been a saving of 190 MW of power during peak demand for electricity recorded every day due to use of LED bulbs across the State, officials here informed.

The information was provided in a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Raman Singh to know the progress of implementation of ‘Rashtriya Ujala Yojana’ and distribution of LED bulbs to the various households in the State recently.

During the meeting, it was informed that the State is saving Rs 379 crore due to less consumption of power on account of use of LED bulbs by consumers.

It was also informed in the meeting that about 72.90 lakh LED bulbs had already been distributed in the State so far.

A total of 661 street lights have been replaced with LED lights under Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) in Chhattisgarh as on February 2016, the Central Government had informed.

A total of 1,639,265 street bulbs have been replaced with LED Lights throughout the country under SLNP during the aforesaid period.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had launched the Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) on January 5, 2015 to attain significant savings by promoting LED based lighting.

The scheme is being implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a joint venture company of four Public Sector Undertakings under the Ministry of Power. There is no element of Government of India subsidy in the scheme.

EESL has evolved a service model to enable municipalities to replace conventional lights with LEDs at no upfront

cost.

The resultant reduction in Energy and maintenance cost of the municipality is used to repay EESL over a period of time. The target is to install 3.5 crore LED street.

The energy efficiency market in India is estimated at US$ 12 billion that can potentially result in energy savings of up to 20 per cent of current consumption, by way of innovative business and implementation models.

Under the SLNP, SDMC area alone accounts for over 2 lakh street light replacements.

The cumulative annual energy savings in SDMC through this programme is 2.65 crore kWh which has helped to avoid capacity addition of 6.6 MW, resulting in a daily reduction of 22,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases.

In the SDMC Project, EESL is addressing complaints from various sources viz, registered from BSES helpline, night patrolling team by EESL, mobile vans, e-mails, social media and other sources including Ward Councilors.

Additionally, EESL is putting stringent complaint redressal mechanism and Centralised Control and Monitoring System (CCMS) to enable remote operation and monitoring of the street lights.

CCMS provides real time information on energy consumption and remote monitoring of the street lights.

It may be mentioned here that the State Government had been distributing three LED lamps free of cost to those who fall under the BPL category. The Above Poverty Line ration card -holders can buy LED lamps on EMI also. A consumer can save up to Rs 160 per annum on each LED bulb.

The officers said that 09 watt LED bulb gives an illumination of 100 watt.

It is estimated that there will be a saving of Rs 300 crore per annum with this scheme.

Source: dailypioneer