Soon, get rooftop solar power plant installed on house free of cost in Chandigarh

Tribune News Service

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Chandigarh, January 28

In a big push to generate green energy, the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) has given its approval to the installation of rooftop solar power plants on residential buildings free of cost.

About the project

• A third party (RESCO) will install solar power plant on consumer’s premises
• It will bear installation and commissioning costs of the system
• Power generated will be first supplied to and consumed by the house owner
• The excess power will be fed to the common grid
• RESCO will bear operation, maintenance cost during build, operate, transfer period
• After the completion of BOT period, plant will be transferred to consumer free of cost
• Thereafter, the consumer will bear the costs

Bids to be invited soon

• Bids will be invited soon from RESCOs for installing rooftop solar power plants on BOT model
• The bidding parameter will be the BOT period, instead of the tariff
• The entire process will be completed in two months
• Plants can be installed from the last week of March or from the first week of April
• CREST told to submit status report to JERC on completion three years of the project

City first to have such project

Chandigarh will be first in the country to introduce RESCO model of build, operate and transfer for houses. It will give a big boost to solar power generation in the city.Rs Debendra Dalai, CEO, CREST

House owners to get power at Rs 3.23 per unit

The owners will have to give space on the rooftop to the firm and they will get electricity at the rate of Rs 3.23 per unit during the BOT period. At present, domestic consumers have to pay Rs 2.75 per unit for 0-151 units, Rs 4.25 per unit for 151-400 units and Rs 4.65 per unit for consuming over 400 units.

The Chandigarh Renewable Energy Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST), which has been designated as an executing agency for renewable energy projects of the Department of Science and Technology, UT, had filed a petition before the JERC, seeking an approval for the installation of grid-connected rooftop (GCRT) power projects for domestic consumers by a third party under the Renewable Energy Services Company (RESCO) build, operate and transfer (BOT) model.

Debendra Dalai, Chief Executive Officer, CREST, said the JERC had given approval to the implementation of the RESCO model. “Chandigarh will be the first in the country to introduce the RESCO model in residential houses. It will give a big boost to solar power generation in the city,” he said.

In order to promote solar power generation in the domestic sector, the UT Administration had made installation of rooftop power plant mandatory for residential houses measuring 500 square yards and above. Under the new model, however, the house owner will have to provide nearly 500 sq ft of space for the installation of 5kWp solar plant, he added.

Under the project, a third party (RESCO) will install the solar power plant on consumer’s premises and sell power to the UT Electricity Department under the gross metering, he said, and added that the installation and commissioning costs for the system would be borne by RESCO, without any investment liability for the rooftop owner/consumer.

RESCO will be a signatory to a quadripartite agreement with the Electricity Department, the beneficiary and CREST for the sale of gross solar power generated from the GCRT system. Under this model, the power generated will be first supplied to and consumed by the consumer. The excess power will be fed to the grid. The model will be applicable for capacities from 5 kW to 10 kW for domestic consumers.

Dalai said bids would be invited soon from RESCOs capable of and interested in installing solar power plants for domestic consumers on the BOT model basis. The bidding parameter would be the BOT period, instead of tariff, he said. The process would be completed within two months and the GCRT could be installed from the last week of March or from the first week of April, he added.

The operation and maintenance costs of the system will be borne by RESCO till the end of the BOT period. Thereafter, these costs will be borne by the consumer till the remaining life of the GCRT. After the completion of the BOT period, the solar plant will be transferred to the consumer free of cost. “The terms and conditions of the quadripartite agreement are balanced and not tilted in favour of any of the four parties. In view of the above, the JERC hereby accords it approval to the new business model and the quadripartite agreement," stated the commission.

The commission further directed CREST to submit a detailed status report after completion of a period of three years of the project.

The owners will have to give space on the rooftop to the firm and they will get electricity at the rate of Rs 3.23 per unit during the BOT period. At present, domestic consumers have to pay Rs 2.75 per unit for 0-151 units, Rs 4.25 per unit for 151-400 units and Rs 4.65 per unit for consuming over 400 units.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had enhanced the city's solar power generation target from 69 MW to be achieved by 2022 to 75 MW to be met by August 15, 2023. So far, the UT has achieved a generation of around 55 MW.

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