Rooftop Solar Can Fulfill Half of Mumbai’s Power Demand, says MCAP

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has come up with the Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP) aimed at achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. According to the document, the BMC says that Mumbai can produce 1,724 MW of solar power. This, BMC says, can meet half of the city’s peak energy demand which currently stands at 3600 MW that occurs in summers.

The report says that rooftop solar installations in residential buildings alone can generate upto 1300 MW followed by residential buildings at 223 MW and educational institutions at 71 MW. MCAP says that Andheri West and Borivali areas of Mumbai have highest potential for solar power and the generated energy will reduce the burden of the existing infrastructure for generation and transmission of power to the city.

Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) is offering a 40 per cent subsidy for rooftop solar installations in buildings with financial help from the Central Government. Similarly, Tata Power and Adani Electricity too have come up with rooftop solar schemes with support from the Central Government.

Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP)

MCAP is a 30 year long comprehensive plan for climate change mitigation for Mumbai city. It’s divided into long term, medium term and short term strategies to achieve zero emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). It has six strategic areas to work on: Energy and Resource Management, Sustainable Waste Management, Urban Greening, Urban Flooding, Air Quality and Sustainable Mobility.

The roadmap has been created with the help of the World Water Resource Institute. It is said that for about half a century, Mumbai’s temperature has increased at a speed of 0.25 Degree Celsius every decade.

In 2019, the CO2 emission in Mumbai was 23.42 million tonnes and the electricity sector contributed more than 63 per cent of it as most of the electricity in Mumbai comes from coal based thermal power plants. At present, only 5% of the energy is sourced from renewables in Mumbai. Solar generated power is just 1% of the total. BMC will first develop a Climate Budget in association with C40 and City of Oslo before implementing the MCAP.