The municipal corporation of Chandigarh is getting its first solar power plant at the main water works in Sector 39. The project cost would be between Rs 4-5 crore and the plant capacity is 1MW. It will come up over the clear water tank and the Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology (CREST) will run it through a selected private player.
The project will come up under Renewable Energy Service Company (RESCO) mode, under which the private company will install solar energy plants on the property and in return charge from the building owner a much lower tariff than the normal electricity rate for about 15 or 25 years or whatever period is agreed in the tender. In the MC’s project, the agreement will be for 25 years.
The MC will be able to save around Rs 26 lakh annually by giving less power tariff of the water works through this mode. As under the RESCO mode, the MC will have to pay Rs 3.33 per unit to the company as power tariff whereas currently they are paying Rs 5.2 per unit.
Presently, there are 6 big tanks Sources in the MC and all were under renovation to enhance their water storage capacity. If this project remains successful, all the tanks will have solar plants. The Central government had given the Chandigarh administration a target to install 69MW solar plants in the entire city by 2022. The CREST has managed to install plants of 39.426MW so far, covering both government as well as private buildings. But to meet the target, the CREST has to install more solar plants, for which different schemes are being offered to people.
