Baidyanath temple in Deoghar

Ranchi, June 27: The Baidyanath temple in Deoghar will soon glow with solar energy, literally.

Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (JREDA) is working on a noble project to provide solar power to the famous temple in Deoghar, thus putting an end to frequent power cuts.

JREDA sources said they would try to light up the temple through solar energy this year itself. The temple witnesses a rush of devotees from across the country in the holy month of Shravan.

A team of experts from BIT, Mesra, led by Arvind Kumar, a senior faculty of the mechanical engineering department, will visit the temple on July 1 to assess the requirements for solar panels and other accessories.

“We will assess the requirements and find out which model of solar panels will be suitable for the proposed project. Our aim will be to provide six to 10 hours of back-up power to the temple and other strategically important areas,” Kumar said. He is a consultant on matters related to renewable sources of energy for JREDA.

JREDA functions under the state energy department and is likely to get 80 per cent subsidy from the Centre for the project. The rest will be borne by the state.

The authorities are planning to provide 50KW of power through the solar project. Kumar added that after inspecting the site along with JREDA officials they would prepare a detailed project report, which would be submitted to the state.

A budget of Rs 20 crore has been earmarked for JREDA for different schemes this year. The authorities are also contemplating setting up a 5MW solar power plant, preferably in Santhal Pargana region.

Total requirement of land for the project would be anywhere around 25 acres. The state would need to apply to the Centre by July 15 under the ambitious Jawaharlal Solar Vision scheme that aims to set up over 100MW solar power plants across the country in phases.

But before that, the state needs to fix per unit power tariff for solar energy.

JREDA has requested the state electricity regulatory authorities to decide on it at the earliest.