Spiti tipped to be solar energy hub

Kuldeeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 23

The state government has set its eyes on the cold desert in the Spiti tribal area as a new solar energy hub for energy by mooting a 1,000-MW solar and wind plan under the national solar mission of the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy.

The state faces a mammoth task on how to draw power and sell the costly power to consumers over a thousand km away in cities. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh laid the foundation stone of a 2.5-MW solar and wind energy project at Rongthong near Kaza recently, which would come up at a cost of Rs 32 crore.

He said, “Spiti is the most suitable to produce power through solar energy. More such solar and wind power projects will be constructed in the area.” The Rongthong plant is a joint venture of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL) and the Solar Energy Corporation of India, say board engineers.

The solar and wind energy plant in the Spiti region is part of an ambitious plan with a target of 1,000 MW of “green energy” that the state had made before the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy under its new solar mission. As of now, the Spiti region needs just 1 MW electricity daily.

The state has targeted the vast Spiti cold desert as it has abundant sunshine and wind to generate energy. Power producers need to raise at least 10 per cent of installed capacity as “green energy” as per new norms of the Central Electricity Authority and the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, say project engineers.

The real challenge lies in drawing the solar power, that will cost Rs 9 per unit, from the remote location to cities. The state is not finding buyers for its surplus power, that costs Rs 2.75 per unit, at the energy exchange, say power project engineers.

Tapping 1,000 MW of solar power will need 2,500 hectare as 1 megawatt requires 25 bighas, say the engineers. The second challenge is how to dispose of the discarded solar panels, which are hazardous, as the life of a solar plant is about 25 years, say Himurja engineers.

The solar mission is the BJP-led government’s game changer for the power sector to fast-track energy production to meet the power demand through “green energy”.

“The gestation period of hydro power projects is large. There are hassles like forest clearance, construction of roads, opposition from locals and issue of displacement,” say engineers of the HPSEBL, which is being tipped as the nodal agency for solar power in the state.

The Ministry of Power is focusing on solar energy as the climate change has raised the heat on thermal power and big hydro power projects, most of which are located in Arunchal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The projects are being delayed and power producers are not keen to invest in these projects.

Board sources say Power Grid Corporation of India and the Himachal Pradesh Transmission Corporation are mulling a plan to lay a green energy corridor to draw power from remote locations to urban centres, planned by the Ministry of Power.

HPSEBL Managing Director Pratap Negi said the board was planning to lay a 66-kv line to draw power from the Spiti region and would tap the green energy as per the new direction.