The Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi will switch over to renewable energy from August to meet a portion of its daily power need. The state’s biggest government hospital will also become the first in the state to be powered partially by clean energy as the proposed 2.5 megawatt (MW) solar plant will be inaugurated in the first week of August.
The hospital management said its priority was to power all the patient wards, operation theatres and the outpatient departments (OPD) with renewable energy and take academic, administrative, hostel, bio-medical waste management plant and residential areas in phases. The move is aimed at providing uninterrupted electricity supply in the hospital wing which faces frequent power-cuts for long hours, affecting surgeries and other life support systems, Rims director Dr BL Sherwal said.
Photovoltaic panels, JREDA said, have been placed over the 10,000 sq ft terrace area of the main hospital building. Over Rs 4.2 crore is being spent for the project, of which 30% expenditure cost (Rs 1.26 crore) is being borne by the Centre. The work for solar electrification began in December last year. Besides uninterrupted power supply, Rims is also expected to cut down by as much as 25% in its monthly electricity bill of Rs 40 lakh.
A part of the state government’s 2015 work plan to promote renewable energy usage in its buildings, the solar electrification project was scheduled to be made operational by Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Authority (JREDA) by June this year. “We missed two deadlines in June and July. Now, we are hopeful of making the plant operational before August 15 (Independence Day),” Sherwal said. Three district hospitals (Ranchi, Dumka and Deoghar) and the Ranchi Institute of Neuro-Psychiatry and Allied Sciences (Rinpas) are in queue to be solar-powered by 2016 end.
Source: Economictimes
