Haryana Government has decided to cancel the clause of mandatory installation of solar water heating systems and adopt a demand driven approach to promote the usage of renewable energy in the State.
Haryana Minister of State for Renewable Energy, Naib Singh Saini on Friday said that keeping in view the space scarcity in the buildings for installation of both rooftop solar photovoltaic power plants and solar water heating systems, it has decided to delete from the notification the instruction of mandatory installation of solar water heating systems for certain category of buildings or areas in the State.
The State Government had earlier made it mandatory to install solar power plant on various category of buildings such as industries, hotels, Group Housing Society, Commercial institutes, Residential building of plot size 500 Sq yard and above.
However, the State Government would continue to provide financial incentive upto Rs 18,000 and rebate on electricity bill upto Rs 300 on installation of solar water heating systems in domestic sector, said he.
The Minister said that the State Government would also continue to provide financial incentive upto 50 per cent on installation of solar water heating systems for Orphan Homes, Working Women Hostels, Deaf and Dumb Centres and Charitable institutions, and institutions working for the welfare of weaker sections and Scheduled Castes.
He said that solar water heating technology has gained sufficient popularity in the state. The Central Government has allocated a tentative target of 4,000 MW for power generation from solar energy for Haryana by the year 2022.
To achieve this goal, the State Government has earlier made installation of Solar Photovoltaic Power Plants mandatory for certain category of buildings or areas in the State. The Central Government is providing financial incentive upto 30 per cent of the cost of the plant to certain categories and also giving rebate on solar generation to consumers on electricity bills under net metering, added the Minister.
Notably, Haryana Government had recently released its solar power policy 2016 to promote generation of green and clean power using solar energy and to harness the enormous solar power potential of the State.
The policy aimed at creating conducive atmosphere for the investors to invest in the state in the solar energy sector and envisaged to add 4,000 MW of solar power by 2022.
For giving a boost to the solar energy sector, various incentives like industrial status, exemption in change of land use approval, electricity duty, besides free wheeling and banking facility, exemption of T&D, cross subsidy charges have been provided in the policy.
The Government has also decided to purchase solar power over and above the solar Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) subject to a limit of 200 MW.