Tuesday, July 08, 2014: Keeping in line with its project to earn the title of ‘solar city’ for the New Delhi area of the national capital, NDMC has now sketched out a detailed plan aimed at rooftop solar energy generation.
According to a proposal, NDMC will engage an operator to be able to identify,erect, design, install, test, as well as commission rooftop solar units as recommended by the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
NDMC from its part has already invited tenders for the same. The civic agency’s area was in February cherry – picked as one of the first townships nominated to be a ‘Solar City’ following the New and Renewable Energy Ministry giving its in-principle approval for the same.
Following the installation of the solar rooftops, New Delhi would go on to become the second solar city in the country after Chandigarh.
New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has so far identified 40 buildings in the area under its jurisdiction for the purpose of installation involving rooftop solar panels. The buildings however belong to the civic agency and goes on to range from NDMC schools, followed by sub-stations, inquiry offices, hospitals, etc.
As per an MoU signed between NDMC and Solar Energy Corporation of India, the civic body should meet at least five per cent of its total energy consumption needs by means of solar energy.
The plan states that NDMC will procure all the solar power generated by the operator and inject into the NDMC grid on the basis of rates determined by Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC). NDMC expects to generate almost 8MW rooftop solar energy within a year, Shrivastava said.
In the wake of the residents of the national capital grappling with an acute power crisis, NDMC officials comprehend that the plan will go some way towards solving the energy crisis in the city. On record, the NDMC area consumes a daily 350 MVA electricity during summer and 150 MVA during winter.
In an effort propelled towards easing the power situation at hand, the civic body is also contributing 16MW of electricity to 8,000 households in the city by way of generating power using solid waste as fuel at a ‘Waste To Energy’ plant on NDMC land in Okhla.
