The Department of Science and Technology has laid the groundwork with a proposal to install solar PV plant in Chandigarh in the process of making it a solar city. The department has also sought land from the municipal corporation.
The location of setting up the plant has been proposed at the Water Works Station in Sector 39 for which a ‘No Objection Certificate’ has to be issued by the civic body, which owns the land in question.
The proposed power plant of 2.5 MW will be set up at a cost of Rs 270 million and is expected to generate 3.2 million unit electricity that costs approximately Rs 16 million at the present rate of Rs 4.98 per unit. A team had visited the site and has finalised on a vacant roof top measuring 6,000 square feet, apart from other available 2.15 lakh square feet above the roof slabs of the underground reservoirs.
A discussion on the proposal is expected to be held soon, post which a final decision on the matter will be taken. The electricity that is generated will be offered to the city during the life span of the plant that is estimated to be 25 years.
Now that Chandigarh has been declared a solar city, it is up to the state government to encourage use of solar power and this initiative has been taken up by the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator, Shivraj V Patil. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Science and Technology Department has decided to provide 30 per cent subsidy for installation of the power plant.
