Odisha to Set Up Rooftop Solar on College Campuses

In a key development to step-up the use of green energy and make institutions self-sufficient in terms of energy, the higher education department of the Odisha state government has come up with a plan to deploy solar power systems on college campuses of the state.

The Odisha state department has decided to solarize the rooftops of 48 state owned degree colleges and 16 teacher education institutes that fall within its jurisdiction.

This is also in accordance with the Odisha Renewable Energy Policy 2022. For the installation of rooftop solar, the government has asked the Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Ltd (GEDCOL) to do the job.

According to the officials of the department, the solar panels on rooftops of the colleges and institutions will help in reducing the electricity bills and ensure regular power supply helping students in their studies.

The Odisha government officials inform that solar energy is imminent for the self-sufficiency of the institutions in terms of power availability, reducing the cost of power consumption and also enabling the creation of green campuses in Odisha.

At present, each college is paying about Rs 5 to 8 lakh every month towards electricity bills.

The Odisha Higher Education Department has asked the GEDCOL to analyse the electricity needs of all institutions before it starts the solarisation works. GEDCOL will also be the sole agency executing the rooftop solar installation in the institutions for the Higher Education department.

The Odisha government has come up with the Renewable Energy Policy 2022 under which it wants to increase the renewable energy installed capacity to 10,000 MW by 2030. At present, the state has a little above 600 MW of green energy installed capacity.

Last year, the government decided to install rooftop solar on seven medical colleges and 32 district headquarters hospitals (DHHs) under the renewable energy service company (RESCO) program of Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA).