Developers Seek Extension to Install Solar Plants on Government Buildings

The Distributed Solar Power Association (DISPA) wrote two letters to MNRC on April 24 and May 11 in which they highlighted their concerns regarding the completion of the rooftop projects.

Citing indifferent attitude of concerned ministers to their efforts, solar rooftop developers have asked for time extension to complete the work of installing solar panels on government buildings. The developers, who won bids to install solar rooftop plants on government buildings across the country, have written to Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

The Distributed Solar Power Association (DISPA) wrote two letters to MNRE on April 24 and May 11 in which they highlighted their concerns regarding the completion of the rooftop projects. They sought extension of deadline from June-end 2018 to December-end, and highlighted the “lack of awareness and interest in the scheme by concerned ministries”.

The other reasons which developers included are “non-feasibility of the identified roofs for setting up the projects”, loss of considerable man hours in accessing the above identified roofs, significant delays in securing internal approvals within government departments for the power purchase agreements (PPAs), and state-specific hurdles in implementing the scheme.

The ministry has not responded to any queries highlighted in the letter. The 500 MW project was tendered by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI)- was reverse auctioned in September 2017. The SECI identified the specific government building roofs across the country.

At the tariff rate of Rs 2.42 per unit only 226 MW of projects were awarded to around 40 developers. The deadline for completion of projects is 30 June 2018.