College of Engineering and Technology in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 9: Technical colleges and universities under the state government will soon undergo a green makeover by adopting environment-friendly technology and renewable energy.

The department of technical education is planning to introduce renewable energy in at least two premier technical institutions of the state to achieve self-sufficiency in electricity requirement.

The facility will be installed at Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) in Burla and College of Engineering and Technology (CET) in Bhubaneswar.

Once successful, the department will consider replicating the model in other colleges in subsequent phases.

“Both VSSUT and CET are at present spending nearly Rs 5 lakh every month on electricity. The move to make the institutions self-sufficient in power using renewable energy will gradually decrease electricity consumption from the board,” a senior officer of the department said.

The department plans to install huge solar panels at both places to light up electrical equipment other than streetlights. Solar energy will be used for cooking, running laboratories, conserving water and waste management.

“The whole idea is to encourage the use of alternative energy and save power. We will explore the possibility of getting the equipment installed at subsidised rates under government schemes,” said the officer.

The department has already asked an agency to prepare an estimate for the two campuses and come up with a detailed project report. Once the report is submitted, power grids will be installed.

“Installation of solar panels at the administrative building would be done in the first phase as it consumes huge amount of power. The other buildings will also be covered with solar panels in subsequent phases,” said the officer. He said 1MW energy was sufficient for the two institutions.

“If it is found that renewable energy has brought down electricity cost at the two institutes, we will replicate it at other institutes,” the official said.