Chandigarh: 500-kW floating solar energy plant to come up at Dhanas Lake soon

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Chandigarh, January 25

The Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST) will soon set up a 500-kW floating solar energy plant at Dhanas Lake.

Debendra Dalai, Chief Executive Officer, CREST, said 90 kW of energy produced by the plant would be utilised to run a 10-12 metre-high fountain, which would be set up in the lake.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had enhanced the city’s solar power generation target from 69MW to be achieved by 2022 to 75MW to be met by August 15, 2023. Till date, the UT has achieved a generation of around 45MW.

The UT Administration, in a notification issued on May 18, 2016, had made installation of rooftop solar power plants mandatory in residential houses measuring 500 sq yd and above and group housing societies.

Last year, the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) had rejected the UT Administration’s petition for implementing Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) model for solar plants installation in the city. The CREST had filed a petition with

the JERC for implementing the RESCO model. CREST had proposed the model after the approval of the UT Administrator as residents were not coming forward for the initial investment.

Under the RESCO model, the UT had planned that private companies will install solar energy plants on private property, and in return, charge the building owner a much lower tariff than the normal electricity rate for about 15 years (or whatever period is agreed in the tender). Thereafter the house owner will get the plant. The building owner and the private company will sign a deal.

The plant will be installed under the net metering mode, whereby a solar energy unit is connected to the building’s electricity system and the solar energy exported to the grid is adjusted in terms of units imported from the Electricity Department during a billing cycle.

To be installed under net metering mode

The plant will be installed under the net metering mode, whereby a solar energy unit is connected to the building’s electricity system and the solar energy exported to the grid is adjusted in terms of units imported from the Electricity Department during a billing cycle.