25 govt buildings in Rohtak to go solar

Eco-friendly, cost-effective alternative to thermal/nuclear electricity

BQ: The exercise is part of the Haryana Government’s initiative to tap and utilise the abundant solar power and switch over to this renewable, eco-friendly and cost-effective energy. Mahender Pal, Rohtak Additional Deputy Commissioner

Sunit Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, February 25

With a view to providing a non-polluting and cost-effective alternative to the conventional thermal/nuclear electricity, the Department of New and Renewable Energy of the state government has launched an eco-friendly initiative to shift government institutes/departments to solar power.

Solar power plants ranging from 42 KWP to 1.5 MWP will be installed on the rooftops of 25 buildings of government institutes/agencies in Rohtak under the novel project being executed under the aegis of Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO), survey for which has been carried out and tendering process is under way.

As per official sources, the company which installs the solar power plants at the government buildings will charge for the power tapped through these at Rs 4.10 to Rs 4.13 per unit, which is considerably lower than the tariff charged by state power corporations.

“The exercise is part of the Haryana Government’s initiative to tap and utilise the abundant solar power and switch over to this renewable, eco-friendly and cost-effective energy,” said Rohtak Additional Deputy Commissioner Mahender Pal while talking to The Tribune here today.

The institutes which have been identified for the purpose include the State Institute of Mental Health block, Mother and Child block, new OPD and Trauma Centre of the Rohtak PGIMS, Police Training Centre, Sunaria; Government ITI, Meham; Vita Milk Plant, Government College for Women and Pt Neki Ram Sharma Government College, Rohtak.

Meanwhile, the scheme to install solar plates to charge inverters in rural areas has also evoked a good response from the local residents, with 2,568 applications having been received from the villages in Rohtak district as against the target of 741.

On the other hand, 440 applications have been received for the installation of solar-powered tube-wells at the agricultural fields in villages of Rohtak district.

However, as per sources, a few village panchayats have come forward for the installation of solar-powered LED streetlights in the villages, primarily due to paucity of funds.