Bhubaneswar, Aug. 19: The Odisha government has finally decided to expedite the solar rooftop project after sitting on the plan for almost four years.
The project aims to provide solar power to all the government buildings.
In 2013, the Odisha government had floated a company, Odisha Green Energy Development Corporation, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Odisha Hydro Power Corporation Limited. It had even signed an MoU with the International Finance Corporation, a World Bank subsidiary, to get the technical support for the project. However, due to the slow process in identifying the government buildings, the work on the project has been delayed for four years.
According to the survey plan, the Odisha government aims to provide solar power in 199 buildings in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.
An official said the project would be completed in next four months.
The government is planning to generate at least 5 megawatt (MW) solar power from the project.
"With 5MW of power, the government buildings in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar will be able to cut down on their electricity expenses to the tune of Rs 4 crore. The government has given it clearance to go ahead with the project," said a green body official.
At present, the twin cities are approximately consuming 7.07 millions unit per day, and the government buildings 9 millions unit per month.
#According to the budget, the hydro power body will invest nearly Rs 45 crore for the project.
An official said anyone could install the solar power unit by spending a small amount of money.
"For 1 kilowatt (kW) of power, only Rs 90,000 need to be spent. Moreover, it will have no adverse impact on the building," he said. An official said the green energy development body was working out a long-term plan to tap 16,230MW non-conventional energy as evaluated by the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency.
"According to the plan, the state aims to generate 14,000MW solar power, 1,700MW from wind power, 350MW from bio-gas, 160MW from small hydel power projects and rest from municipal wastes," the official said.
The state has already installed 50killowatt solar power panel at the state secretariat and the science and technology department is the beneficiary of the solar power.
After the rooftop solar power project is completed in the twin cities, the project will be extended to other towns, including Sambalpur, Burla, Hirakud, Rourkela, Puri, Khurda, Berhampur, Chhatrapur, Jeypore, Koraput, Sunabeda, Balasore, Bhadrak and Baripada.
