Navy Station in Raigad Brings Online 2 MW Solar Power Plant

The first 2 MW solar power plant of the western command of the Indian Navy was inaugurated at the IN Karanja Station in Raigad district of Maharashtra.

The first 2 MW solar power plant of the Indian Navy was inaugurated at the IN Karanja Station near Uran in Raigad district of Maharashtra on July 21, 2020, officials said. Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, inaugurated the advanced solar plant set up on a sprawling area within the station.

Costing around Rs 14 crore, the project is fully indigenous and installed with the help of Indian companies.

With this captive power plant, the Navy hopes to make significant savings of around Rs 3.65 crore per annum in power bills as it will cater to nearly one-third of the Karanja Station’s annual power needs, said officials.

Besides the indigenous solar panels, tracking tables and inverters, the plant is also grid-connected by a state-of-art single-axis sun-tracking technology with computerised monitoring and control.

“The project is a significant step by the Navy towards harnessing solar energy and use of renewable energy for meeting the power requirement of the Naval Station here,” said the official.

In May, the Indian Navy’s Eastern Naval Command (ENC) has commissioned a 2 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant at INS Kalinga in Visakhapatnam. This solar project was commissioned by Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, ENC on May 28, 2020.

Commenting on the solar power plant commissioning, Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain said that the commissioning of this plant demonstrates the commitment of Eastern Naval Command (ENC) towards the conservation of the environment and eco-friendly measures.

In June last year, the navy had developed a roadmap called Indian Navy Environment Conservation Roadmap (INECR). The roadmap envisions ‘Reduction in Energy Consumption’ and ‘Diversification of Energy Supply’ as the key result areas. Further, this INECR has been formulated with specific action plans covering the entire gamut of operations, maintenance, administration and infrastructure/ community living. It was also reported that under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), solar PV projects of 24 MW comprising both rooftop and ground-mounted are already under execution at Indian Navy’s various shore establishments.