Tuesday, September 03, 2013: Odisha state government has sanctioned a proposal meant for the installation of solar panel in roof top of every government organisation in the twin city of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. This proposal has been approved under the Publi-Private-Partnership (PPP) Model.
The state government has asked the implementing agency to enter into agreements with International Finance Corporation (IFC). The Joint Secretary in the state energy department, Sangramjit Nayak wrote a letter to Managing Director of Odisha Hydro Power Corporation Ltd. OHPC stated that it should now take the required action for signing an agreement between Green Energy Development Corporation Ltd. (GEDCOL) and FC for the purpose of financing the project. The Business Standard reported.
The agency GEDCOL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of OHPC has been established recently for carrying out development and maintenance of carbon-free energy in the state.
The purpose of this project is to minimise rising power bills of government offices. Moreover, the High Court has criticised the state government for failing to clear huge amount of pending power bills with regard to a tariff hike case.
Previous year, in the month of October, decision was taken by the government to establish solar lighting systems on the rooftop of every government office from the year 2013-14. Apart from this, the project calls for installation of solar rooftops at every government-run-hostels and guest houses to lower power bills.
The state government has announced GEDCOL as the nodal agency for on-grid solar energy projects in the state while, the onus for off-grid generation such as solar cooking, pumping, refrigeration, heating and industrial process will be on Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA).
