Chandigarh to set up another solar power plant at waterworks
Dushyant Singh Pundir
Chandigarh, December 27
To increase the share of green energy, the UT Administration will set up another floating solar photo voltaic (SPV) power plant of 3 MWp (megawatt peak) at the Sector 39 waterworks here.
During her visit to the city on October 8-9, President Droupadi Murmu laid the foundation stone for a 2 MWp floating SPV power plant at the Sector-39 waterworks.
Debendra Dalai, Chief Executive Officer, Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST), said the work on the 2 MWp floating power plant at the Sector-39 waterworks was complete and preparations were on to commission the plants by January 15.
Dalai said the 2MWp floating power plant would generate 28 lakh units annually, which was expected to generate an annual revenue of Rs 1.38 crore. The entire project was funded by CREST. While 70 per cent of the total revenue would go to the Administration, which would be nearly Rs 97.21 lakh, the Municipal Corporation would get 30 per cent of the revenue which would be nearly Rs 41.66 lakh. The project has been completed at a cost of Rs 11.70 crore.
In addition to this, it was also decided to set up two more solar power plants with 1.5 MWp total each capacity on two storage tanks at the waterworks. He said tenders would be invited for setting up the plants soon.
He said a 500 kW floating solar plant has also been set up at the Dhanas lake. After the commissioning of the plant, two fountains were being operated at the lake and the establishment branch of the Forest Department was also drawing power from it. Dalai said a third fountain would also be made functional at the lake soon. While one of the fountains was 25-metre tall, the two others would be of 13-metre height.
The administration has set an ambitious target of 75 MWp to be achieved by August 15 next year. To achieve the target, CREST has prepared a detailed study report on feasibility of solar power plants at various sites.
“Rooftop solar power plants with an aggregate capacity of 50.588 MWp have been installed and commissioned at 4,200 sites in the city,” added Dalai.
The administration has made it mandatory to install solar power projects at all houses and buildings on 500 square yard or more, while the department is also preparing to install solar power plants on houses above 10 marlas (250 sq yd) in the city.
UT plan to achieve target of 75 MWp
- To achieve the target of 75 MWp, CREST has prepared a roadmap, 67 MWp will be achieved by March 31 and 75 MWp by August 15, 2023.
- A 2 MWp solar power plant will be also set up on N-Choe for about Rs 11.50 crore and another 2 MWp on Patiala ki Rao rivulet in the city.
