MNRE’s ‘Rooftop Solar Power Plants’ Scheme to Rescue Kashmir From Power Crisis

The scheme will provide government subsidy of 70 percent to the customers generating solar energy and setting up roof top solar plants.

During winters the electricity demand in Kashmir rises to up to 1900MWs against the availability of 1200MWs produced by the Power Development Department (PDD) of Kashmir. In order to compensate the additional 700MW of electricity, a centrally sponsored scheme has been introduced in the state under which customers will be generating electricity own their own and the excess production will be transferred to power grid. The process will eventually solve the issue of power shortage in the state and will avoid excessive power cuts, said an official.

The scheme is named ‘Rooftop Solar Power Plants’ is solely sponsored by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, (MNRE) to be implemented in the state by the Jammu and Kashmir Energy Development Agency (JAKEDA). If the scheme is implemented properly, it will end power crisis of the state,” quoted an official.
As per the officials the scheme will provide government subsidy of 70 percent to the customers generating solar energy and setting up roof top solar plants.

“The grid connect roof top solar power plants will generate electricity on own with or without battery back-up support,” quoted JAKEDA official.
Reminding of the detailed benefits of the scheme, he added “If any customer is getting an electricity bill of Rs 3000, after installing the roof top solar power plants, there could be around 70 to 80 percent decrease in the power bill.”
The official also mentioned that the consumers can generate solar power for self-consumption and could feed excess power into the government grid.
“The rooftop solar power plants generate electricity and will also reduce the power purchasing cost of the government. The main focus is on power generation on own and reduce dependence on hydro electricity,” he added.
The state has spent round Rs. 30,000 crore in the last ten years on power purchase corresponding to Rs. 1355 crore in 2006-07, Rs 1750 crore in 2007-08, Rs 2034 in 2008-09 and during 2015-16, and 2016-17, around Rs 5000 crore was spent on each year. The expenditure has led to a revenue generation gap of 50 percent on which the official said, “It will end revenue generation gap and will also decrease the power purchasing cost.”

“We are getting a good response from the people for the scheme. The rooftop solar power plants and water heating solar plants have a success rate of 99 percent and can generate electricity even during snowfall.”
He said that the JAKEDA has been harnessing solar power in the state to cope up the power crisis in the state.
“The solar power plants are operational in most of the district hospitals. Several government departments and educational institutions like NIT, IUST also generate electricity through solar power plants to ensure uninterrupted power supply,” he said.
The solar power plants have been most beneficial to far-flung areas where they are being used as a back up to the regular power supply, he added.

Source: Kashmir Monitor