Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s Solar Power Plan Faces Hurdles

However, a year has passed, but the project still remains on paper. Officials claim that the executing agencies had been shying away from the project since the GHMC had asked them to install the solar panels for free and that they would only pay them later.

There are no takers for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporations’s solar project. In a bid to promote solar energy and save power charges, the corporation had decided to install roof-top grid-connected power generation plants on its properties.

The corporation, in September 2016, had conducted a survey to identify suitable properties to set up roof-top solar panels. It had hired two consultants for the said purpose where they had identified 42 properties from a total of 942, in February 2017. The corporation officials claimed the installation of solar panels would save a monthly expense of Rs 52.5 lakhs.

However, a year has passed, but the project still remains on paper. Officials claim that the executing agencies had been shying away from the project since the GHMC had asked them to install the solar panels for free and that they would only pay them later.

According to GHMC officials, the corporation has been consuming 1 lakh units per month, where the cost per unit was marked at Rs 7. The corporation expects to supplement nearly 47% of its total energy consumption through solar power, where the unit cost would be reduced to Rs 3.

The official further said that even though the minimum requirement to accept the RESCO model was 100 kilowatts (KW) per building, the corporation has decided to convince it to reduce it 40 KW. He said that the cost per KW was Rs 65,000 and it will be Rs 49,000 after getting a 30 per cent subsidy from the centre.

Source: Deccan Chronicle