The Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA) will be setting up a ‘Centralised Energy Monitoring Centre’ for its projects across the State, officials informed.
The agency has deployed Solar Energy systems in more than 11,000 locations across the State, they informed.
It is imperative to have a common platform for effective communication and interaction with every stake holder in a way that all grievances related to the operation of Solar systems can be addressed in a very simple and approachable method for which the Centralised Energy Monitoring Centre is being established.
It may be recalled that CREDA will carry out detailed energy audits of street lights, water pumps and other water pumping systems installed in all municipal corporations of the State, officials informed. It will also soon get a software prepared for managing its project works online. The online platform will be utilising open source technologies, they informed.
Notably, Chhattisgarh is planning to add 2640 MW of additional renewable energy capacity by financial year 2018-19, officials informed.
The State currently has total renewable energy potential of 4,500 MW which includes solar (grid connected and roof top), wind biomass and small hydro.
It may be recalled that there are significantly more number of villages which are to be electrified in Chhattisgarh using the off-grid (solar) mode than the grid-based (conventional power supply) mode.
As per the latest data available with the Union Ministry of Power, a total of 543 villages have to be electrified under ‘off-grid’ mode compared to 101 through the conventional power supply grid as on May 31, 2016.
The State will soon also launch a ‘Solar Community Irrigation Project’ for drawing water extracted using solar pumps for supplying to the agricultural land of farmers across the State.
The pipeline extension project to be executed by CREDA would be undertaken shortly, officials informed.
Notably , the Central government last year had approved Raipur and Bilaspur to be developed as ‘Solar cities’ in Chhattisgarh.
The State Government has already commenced preparation for setting up 51,000 solar powered irrigation pumps in a span of two-and-half-years in the State.
The government has set the target of setting up 11,000 solar pumps in the current financial year till March 2017 and the rest during the next two years.
This was announced in the review meeting chaired by Additional Chief Secretary, Energy Department, N Baijendra Kumar in a meeting of the officials of CREDA in Raipur recently.
The Systems Integrators who would establish the solar energy systems also participated in the meeting.