Panvel Municipal Corporation Floats Tender for Rooftop Solar at 5 Panvel Sites

At a time when rooftop solar is gaining traction in Maharashtra, the Panvel Municipal Corporation (PMC) has come up with a tender seeking a contractor to install a rooftop solar power project at PMC’s five key properties in the city. The corporation has selected Adyakrantiveer Vasudev Basudev Phadke Natyagruha, Fire Office Building, Dr Ambedkar Bhavan, STP Plant and Vilasrao Deshmukh shopping complex as premises where the solar installations will come up.

The PMC had studied 22 locations in Panvel before finalising the five premises and the solar panel installations will generate about 1300 KWh annually from the day of installation of the net meters.  The total contract is for Rs 1.87 crore and all the work has to be completed in 12 months.

As per the tender, the selected contractor will have to design, supply, install, test and commission the project. The contractor will comprehensively operate and manage the grid-connected solar installations.

The PMC plans to use the solar power generated for the premises themselves. In case there is surplus power, it will be sold to Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd (MSEDCL) through grid – connection.

Maharashtra Looks Towards Sun

Maharashtra is one of the key states having abundant sunshine with 250-300 shiny days in a year. The state government announced the Unconventional Energy Generation Policy in January 2021 to implement 17.36 GW of transmission system-connected renewable power projects which includes 12.93 GW of solar power projects by 2025.

As far as the solar power is concerned in the state, 10 GW of standalone power projects, 2 GW of grid-connected rooftop solar projects, 500 MW of solar-based water supply projects and 250 MW of solar generation projects for farmers will come up.

The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is targeting the all-India generation of 38,000 MW of electricity through rooftop solar plants and it wants Maharashtra to generate 47 GW through residential and small solar.

An Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay report mentions that the city of Mumbai can produce more than 1700 MW of solar energy back in 2017.