Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) is looking to harness solar energy for its energy needs. The corporation is planning to build a 2 MW solar plant, with a budget of 14.5 crore at Kavundampalayam.
Sources claim that the plant will be funded by grants from the Asian Development Bank under the Tamil Nadu Urban Flagship Investment Program (TNUFIP).
Three solar power generation plants are already owned by the Coimbatore Corporation. These include a Ukkadam 3.6 MW solar power station, which was built under Smart City Projects. Two 1 MW solar plant were also installed in Ukkadam and Kavundampalayam.
The new plant will be built on 7.6 acres. It will increase CCMC’s power generation by 5.6 MW to 7.6 MW once it is commissioned.
The petition is submitted by the corporation to the commissioner for municipal administration (CMA). Once the proposal has been accepted, tenders will be distributed.
According to a corporation official the construction of the fourth city-owned solar power plant will take six months.
A spokesperson for the corporation stated that 10% of funds from Ukkadam’s smart city initiative will be contributed by the government. The facility has a power output of 3.6 MW. Officials at the corporation said that they are also looking into ways to increase renewable power generation to reduce dependence on non-renewable sources of energy. The city will be able to reduce its electricity bills by 2 crore per year with the proposed solar power plant.
