Chandigarh: Year after nod, rooftop solar plants hang fire

Dushyant Singh Pundir

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Chandigarh, January 9

Even one year after getting approval from the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC), the UT Administration has failed to install free rooftop solar plants. The Chandigarh Renewable Energy Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST) has invited fresh bids for the empanelment of manufacturers system integrators for rooftop grid connected SPV power plants of capacity 1kWp to 500kWp for 2023-24. The bids could be submitted up to January 29.

After the JERC approval, CREST had invited bids for installation and operation of solar plants. In June, CREST had identified a company for the project, but there was no consensus on the built, operate and transfer (BOT) period. The firm had proposed a BOT period of 23 years, while CREST maintained it should be 20 years. Following this, the tender was put on hold. The impasse in negotiations delayed the project by nearly one year.

The JERC in January last year had granted approval to the installation of grid-connected rooftop solar plants in the city for domestic consumers by a third party under the BOT model of Renewable Energy Services Company (RESCO).

After the finalisation of the BOT period, residents will be able to get rooftop solar power plants installed free of cost, while the cost of installation will be recovered by the selected firm over that period through the sale of electricity generated by these plants.

CREST has already received over 1,200 applications for free-of-cost installation of rooftop solar plants. The move is aimed at generating 8.5 MWp of solar power, even as this falls short of the intended target of 20 MWp. Under the RESCO model, house owners will get electricity at a consistent rate of Rs 3.23 per unit during the BOT period. They will have to provide space on the rooftop to the firm.

Once the BOT period concludes, the ownership of the solar plant will get transferred to the consumer at no additional cost. Earlier, the Administration had made rooftop power plants must for houses built on land measuring 500 sq yd and above. Under the new model, the house owner will have to provide nearly 500 sq ft of space for a 5kWp solar plant.