MC to identify more govt buildings for solar plants

Ludhiana: Having completed the first phase of installing rooftop solar power plants at government buildings in the city, the MC would now start identifying more government buildings where such plants could be set up, said an official on Tuesday.

For this, said the official, the MC is going to carry out a survey of government buildings in the city. In the first phase, the civic body installed solar plants in 20 buildings and these systems have already started producing electricity. In all, the power-generation capacity of the existing plants is 470 kilowatts (kW).

The directions for identify government buildings where the solar plants could be installed were issued in a meeting of the civic body last week. MC executive engineer Balwinder Singh said there were going to mostly look at schools, zila parishad offices and buildings of other government departments for the purpose.

For now, the MC has not set a date for starting the survey. It has also not set a target for the number of buildings it plans to identify and the total capacity of solar plants it wants to install.

The MC official added that they were expecting the outcome of the plants which have already been installed in the “next few days. “Now, we want to begin with the second phase,” he said.

Meanwhile, the ongoing tussle between the MC and private firm over the cost of replacing electricity poles and other infrastructure before installation of LED street lights has been resolved. Now Ludhiana Smart City Limited will bear the additional Rs 12 crores on replacing poles, wires and other related things. The project had been delayed because the company wanted an assurance from the MC that the cost of replace other infrastructure would be borne by the civic body.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes