Secretariat will soon be fully solar-powered
BHUBANESWAR: The state government is planning to run the secretariat on solar power, replacing the conventional system, to make one of Odisha’s biggest public buildings energy efficient.
The plan has been mooted at a high-level meeting of the science and technology department held recently in which chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi suggested that steps should be taken to make the entire secretariat an energy-efficient building before replicating the same in other buildings.
It must be noted that the secretariat, at present, partially runs on solar rooftop panels but mainly draws its power from the Central Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha (Cesu).
“We were deliberating on implementing the solar rooftop system in Bhubaneswar when the chief secretary suggested solar energy for running the secretariat. We will conduct a study in this regard,” said an official of the science and technology department.
He said the study would be conducted to map the rooftop and assess the alignment of solar panels. “We are exploring the option of installing solar rooftop panels instead of a solar energy plant at the secretariat,” the official added.
Sources said for a solar power plant, a building needs a huge amount of space. In the absence of the same at the secretariat, the officials are mulling solar rooftop panels. “After implementing it at the secretariat, similar efforts will be made for other buildings in the city,” the sources said.
Officials said the power load of the secretariat was about 1,850 KW per month, of which 265 KW is generated from the existing solar panels. The authorities pay about Rs 16-17 lakh to Cesu per month for electricity. However, the electricity bill has come down by about Rs 1 to 1.5 lakh due to the solar rooftop panels.
Experts said with complete migration to solar energy, the secretariat would be able to save the entire amount it currently pays to Cesu. “We are soon going to run short of conventional energy. Solar, on the other hand, not only saves energy but works for the betterment of the environment. I hope the plans for the secretariat work out,” said environmentalist Sailabala Padhi.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes
