The Chhattisgarh Government will be establishing Solar Photo Voltaic Power Plant (SPVPP) of 2 KV capacity each in the police stations and base camps in insurgency infested districts of Bastar region. The Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) has already floated tenders for supply of equipment for the solar power plants, officials stated.
CREDA had already established solar energy equipment in different police stations and base camps in the insurgency hit Kanker district, officials stated. The equipment installed ensures uninterrupted power supply in the hinterland. The base camps and police stations located in regions like Pakhanjur, Koylibeda, Durgkondal and Antagarh now have solar energy equipment installed in the district.
lighting through solar lamps help police personnel and make it easy to counter the Maoists during an attack. In case of a black out or fault in power supply lines, solar lighting arrangements help in the restive regions. Notably, overall, solar lamps have been distributed among about seven lakh families of 95 development blocks of the State till August 2014, officials said.
The officers informed that about 7 lakh solar lamps have been distributed among 95 out of total 146 development blocks of the State . This includes distribution of 2,48,000 study lamps to students under Chief Minister Solar Study lamp Scheme and distribution of solar task lamps to 4,42,241 families under the Chief Minister Solar Powered lamp Scheme.
This apart, after facing low voltage problems, people of several villages and hamlets now also have solar powered pumps to lift drinking water in the insurgency hit Narayanpur district. The villagers are now using solar pumps to run their drinking water supply system. At least 44 Ashram hostels in the district have been sourcing power from solar energy sources.
Similarly the hostels are also getting water supply using the non conventional energy sources. With the joint initiatives of district administration, Public Health Engineering Department and CREDA, Non conventional energy sources have been created to help residents of 110 villages to get rid of the low voltage problems.
The solar pumps installed are also now supplying drinking water to the villagers. The villages which are benefiting from the scheme include Markabeda, Kapasi, Borgaon, Sitapal, Sulenga (Dhaudhai), Pungarpal, Borpal, Halamimunjmeta, Bawdipara (Siwani) and Ranegabedha in Narayanpur block.
Solar pumps have been installed in these villages with an investment of Rs5 lakh each. Solar pumps have been installed in these villages also on hand pumps previously. Moreover, people in Chhattisgarh can now install their own environment friendly and cost effective solar power plants on the roof of their houses to meet their power supply needs.
Banks would provide loan for the solar power plants which once installed will provide free electricity for a lifetime, Chhattisgarh State Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) officials said.
They said that the Central Government has set a target of establishing solar power plants to the capacity of 40,000 MW on roof-tops of residential buildings, commercial buildings, industrial units and other buildings across the country.
These solar power units will range from 1 KW to 500 KW capacity. People can contribute in protection of the environment by installing solar power plants. The officials said that the Union Finance Ministry has written to the chairpersons of all the banks of the country to provide loan to the people for establishing solar power plants along with home loan.
CREDA is providing free technical guidance to the people in this regard. CREDA officials stated that solar power panels of lower capacity 5W can also be provided to the people according to their need. Each panel of 500W capacity will cost Rs50,000. Similarly the cost of panel of 1 KW will be Rs1 lakh. The expenditure will be one-time and these panels will produce free electricity for a lifetime.
Notably, Chhattisgarh achieved a total commissioned capacity of 7.1000 MW from grid connected solar PV power projects as on March 31, 2014, according to the 2013-14 annual report of Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The total commissioned capacity of such Solar PV power projects was 4.000 MW as on March 31, 2013 in Chhattisgarh, it stated.
The grid connected power projects were commissioned under Phase-I of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) . A total of 11 projects of 50.5 MW capacity under the ‘migration scheme’ and 26 projects of 140 MW capacity under Batch-I were commissioned during the year across the country.
The JNNSM is a key initiative of the Union Government and the State Governments to promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing India’s energy security challenges. The Mission is one of the several initiatives that were part of National Action Plan on Climate Change, it stated.
The JNNSM was launched on January 11, 2010 and the Mission targets included- deployment of 20,000 MW of grid connected solar power by 2022, 2000 MW of off-grid solar applications including 20 million solar lights by 2022, 20 million square metre of solar thermal collector area besides creating favourable conditions for developing solar manufacturing capability in the country and to support R&D and capacity building activities to achieve grid parity by 2022. The Mission is to be completed in three phases, the report stated.
For the first phase of the Mission, the Union Cabinet last year approved a target to set up 1,100 MW grid connected solar plants including 100 MW capacity plants as rooftop and other small solar power plants till March 2013.
In addition, a target of 200 MW capacity equivalent of off-grid solar applications and 7 million square metre solar thermal collector area were also approved.
The Union Cabinet last year had also approved setting up of a large utility scale grid power plants through bundling of solar power with the unallocated thermal power available from NTPC stations and the policy to provide generation based incentive for small grid connected solar power plants, it stated.
On the other hand, CREDA under its ‘Hot Water Supply Scheme’ has established a plant in insurgency infested Kanker district to supply 10,100 litres of hot water per day to the various government and private establishments.
Besides, the agency has also installed a plant to supply 7000 litres of hot water per day in Jungle Warfare Training Centre in the district. This apart, a total of 30 solar powered equipment had also been installed in the primary health centers besides solar power plants had been established in Koyalibada, Civil Hospital, Pankhajur and at Prime Health Centre, Amabeda.
The solar powered equipment had helped during emergencies to operate the deep freezer and other key equipment in the health centers.
CREDA has also established a 25 Kw solar energy equipment in the Keshkal valley on Jagdalpur road about 30 kms from the district headquarters which had helped street lights remaining illuminated in the 6 kms length of the valley while preventing accidents.
There are also about 13 villages in the interior parts of Kanker district which cannot receive power supply in the conventional mode which now have solar powered street lights installed in the villages. The installation of the solar powered equipment had benefitted nearly 4,000 families residing in the district.
Moreover, by installing over 1,100 solar pumps, pure and safe water supply has been made available to the inaccessible, non-electrified and tribal areas of the entire State. As they function with solar energy, water supply here is free from any kind of power hindrance.