The Union Government has issued an in-principle approval to the pilot rooftop solar power projects in the twin city Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
Managing Director of Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha limited (GEDCOl) Hemant Sharma has been informed about the approval recently.
The Union Government has informed about the allocation of four-megawatt (MW) with estimated Central assistance of `10.80 crore at the rate of `2.70 crore per MW. For the first time, Odisha would be benefitted under this project. The Centre has cleared a total of 54-MW rooftop solar power projects across the country.
The GEDCOl was incorporated in April 2013 under the Department of Energy (DoE). It has undertaken a job of developing another one-MW solar power project at Chhatrapur, the headquarters of Ganjam district, on a pilot basis which would form part of the Smart Grid in that locality and for which the process of land acquisition has commenced. This project would act as a saviour during blackout in the cyclone-prone area in the coastal zone, said an official.
The GEDCOl has been selected by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for a 20-MW solar power project under the domestic category to be set up at Manmunda in Boudh district at a cost of `48 crore. The BHEl would take up the project work by April 2015, said a GEDCOl official.
The GEDCOl has responded positively to the new policy initiatives of the Union Government to set up an Ultra Mega Solar Power Project of 500 MW. So, a suitable patch of land of around 2,500 acres is being identified and the job would be finalised soon. Soon, the GEDCOl would enter into an MoU with the Union Government for setting up of the project, said the official.