Haryana to install off-grid solar power plants in trural areas i

CHANDIGARH, JULY 3

The Haryana Government has decided to install off-grid solar power plants in the rural areas in 110 Primary Health Centres, 110 Community Health Centers, and 9,500 Anganwadi centers. A proposal to this effect has been sent to the Ministry for CFA (Central Financial Assistance) for sanctioning these projects.

            This was disclosed by the Haryana Transport Minister, Mr Krishan Lal Panwar, at the Conference of Power and New & Renewable Energy Ministers in Shimla, today. The conference was convened by the Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Mr R.K. Singh. The Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Mr Jai Ram Thakur, and Power Ministers from other states were also present on this occassion.

Mr Panwar said with a view to addressing the environmental concerns and compliance of renewable purchase obligations (RPO), the state was promoting solar and renewable energy resources of generation as per the agreed plan.

As on date, the total installed capacity through renewable energy resources is 292.40 MW. Due to non-availability of waste land in the state, emphasis is being laid on promoting solar rooftop power plants with a  target of installation of 1600 MW of roof-top solar power plants by 2022.

Solar pumping programme has been implemented, under which 750 pumps were installed in the state in 2017-18 with 90% subsidy. During the current year, 2,300 solar pumps with 75% state subsidy shall be installed on which work has already been initiated.

Mr Panwar said in line with "Kusum" (Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahaabhiyan Programme), to be launched by the Ministry of of New and Renewable Energy, Govt. of India, the state government had also decided to convert 1.5 lakh electric-operated pumps into solar powered pumps in the state.

Under this programme, there will be a provision to sell surplus electricity generated to power utilities when the pumps are not required for irrigation purposes, so that the solar pump not only fulfill the requirement of irrigation but also become a source of income for the farmers.

          Haryana is a dynamic and progressive state. Keeping in view the increase in demand of power on account of rapid industrialization and due to it being part of the National Capital Region, the state has accorded highest priority to the development of the power sector.

Peak demand of the state in 1995 was just 1990 MW, which touched 10,050 MW in June, 2018.Power availability has just doubled from 723 LUs units in 2007-08 to 1500 LUs during 2017-18.

Mr Panwar said the Haryana Government was fully committed to providing 24x7 power as per the vision of the Central Government. Keeping in view the supply and demand scenario, the state has already taken pro-active steps to ensure adequate availability of generation, transmission and distribution capacity.

The state is at present self-sufficient to meet the power requirements of various categories of consumers. The total installed and contracted generation capacity available to the state as on date is 11,342.42 MW having a mix of 8,322.84 MW of coal thermal, 1,953.13 MW of hydro, 673.12 MW of gas, 100.93 MW of nuclear and 292.4 MW of renewable power.

Out of this, 24.67% is state owned, 7.47% from BBMB a shared regional project, 26.64% from CPSUs and 41.20% from IPPs. However, actual power available with applicable PLF is between 8,000 and 8,800 MW. The state is also partnering with other states in banking of power to meet the seasonal variations in requirements. Merit order dispatch of the generating units is followed to reduce the cost of power and to optimize availability.

      Besides, adequate intrastate transmission system has also been developed to ensure quality supply of power in the whole state. As many as 25 new grid sub-stations (66 kV & above), 968.28 km of transmission lines and 150 grid substations have been augmented by the transmission company at a cost of Rs. 1,253 crore during the last three years. As a result, the state has been able to supply the highest ever daily power supply of 2135 LUs on June 25, 2018, Mr Panwar added.

  He said there had been appreciable reduction in AT&C losses in both DISCOMs. This has been made possible on account of several initiatives like feeder sanitization in urban areas, Mhara Gaon Jagmag Gaon scheme in rural areas, aggressive theft detection campaign, effective man management and introduction of incentive and reward schemes, automated demand forecasting and optimization of scheduling, energy auditing.  

DISCOMs have achieved financial turnaround an year ahead of the the UDAY target, and reported profit of Rs. 115.68 crore provisionally in FY 2017-18, against loss of Rs.193.05 crores during the previous year.

Adequate 24x7 power is made available to the urban and industrial categories of consumers. An innovative scheme i.e. “Mhara Gaon Jagmag Gaon” was launched on 1st July, 2015 based on the principles of grass-roots participation by local representatives, villagers, panchayats, local administration and power utilities.

The scheme achieved tremendous success and more than 2,100 villages are getting 24x7 supply. Another 686 villages are getting power supply for 15 to 21 hours. The scheme is targeted to cover all villages of the state by 2018-19.

Similarly, supply hours are regulated on agriculture feeders by installing Pilot Advanced Transformers (PAT) to ensure increased power supply of 12 hours per day to about  51,000 Dhanies (small  distributed clusters  and hamlets) in the state,  balance would  be covered by end of 2018.

With the launch of LED Scheme i.e. Energy Efficient Lightning Programme (EELP) by the Central Government, the state received tremendous success and 1.51 crore LED bulbs, 1.91 lakh energy efficient tubelights and 0.53 lakh energy-efficient fans have already been distributed at subsidized rates in the state to keep up with the energy conservation.

It has helped the state in reducing the peak demand by 218 MW and also resulted in monthly saving of Rs.70 per month in the energy bills of the consumers.

Mr Panwar reiterated the commitment of the state government to implement the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), and Deen Dyal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojna (DDUGJY) for which  contracts had been awarded in all eligible districts at a cost of Rs.655 crore well within the timelines set by the Union Ministry of Power.  

The state is also committed to the ease of doing business reforms through implementation of all recommendations made by DISCOMs. Like now there is no need of certification by electrical inspectors up to 33 KV level and the self-certification through 3rd party is sufficient.

 There is facility of online submission of form, upload of documents and payment of charges without any physical visit to utility offices. The processes have been re-engineered and door-step services have been implemented to ensure that the connections are released within seven days of the application.

Besides, a pilot project of installation of 11,000 smart meters along with SCADA system has been successfully commissioned at Panipat. This is the first such project in the country which has been completed.

Simultaneously, the project reached implementation phase for installing 10 lakh smart meters in collaboration with EESL. Smart grid project in Gurugram has also been commenced. A sum of Rs 273 crore has been sanctioned from PSDF funding agency for “Smart Grid Project” Gurugram till now. Mr Panwar requested the Union Ministry of Power to get sanction balance loan amount for this project.

The Haryana Government is also committed to  energy conservation. Energy audit has been made mandatory for the buildings having a connected load of more than 100 KW in the state. Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) has been made mandatory for commercial buildings in the state.

In agriculture, the use of at least 4-star rated pumps has been made mandatory. The state government has made use of LED lights mandatory for government buildings, industries / commercial / educational buildings. Recently, the Chief Minister issued directions that all inefficient lights may be replaced with LED lights in all government buildings of the state by 15.08.2018.

 Mr Panwar said Coal India Limited and its subsidiary companies should be impressed upon to take necessary measures to supply coal as per agreement, as short supply of coal to thermal plants located in the state is resulting in power shortage in the current ongoing summer/paddy season and may result in imposition of power cuts.

===balbirsingh227@gmail.com