According to Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, the Delhi government will increase its power generation capacity by 6,000 MW over the next three-years using renewable energy sources via various initiatives.
He said that the city government is working hard to meet Delhi’s electricity needs using renewable energy.
Sisodia stated in a statement that the goal was to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, meet power demand with renewable energy and make Delhi self-reliant in its energy requirements. This will ensure uninterrupted electricity supply for Delhi residents and meet growing power demand.
As per the new city’s solar policy, the deputy chief minister stressed that rooftop solar panels should be adopted faster by Delhi government offices, schools, and other buildings.
Sisodia chaired a meeting of the energy department to review city’s readiness to meet future energy requirements. He instructed officials to look for potential locations to set up solar energy plants, and to initiate projects such as floating solar plants above lakes in order to reach renewable energy targets.
In June 2022, Delhi’s highest electricity demand was 7,695 MW. Officials at the meeting stated that power discoms currently have tie-ups to generate an estimated 8,471 MW. 33 percent (around 2,826MW) of this is generated from renewable sources.
They said that the renewable sources are mainly solar energy and wind energy, which contribute around 2,000 MW to Delhi’s power supply.
Delhi’s new solar policy will encourage Delhiites installing solar panels on rooftops with a generation-based incentive (GBI), of Rs 2-3 per unit for residential and Re 1 per unit for commercial.
A subsidy of Rs 2000 per kilowatt per consumer is also included in the policy, with a maximum of Rs 10,000.
The draft solar policy recommends that all government buildings with rooftops of 500 square meters or more will be solarized. It also suggests that the Delhi government should adopt a solar policy, which targets the installation of 500 MW additional rooftop solar plants over the next three-years.
The discoms are in consultation with different agencies for an additional renewable energy supply of 3,000 MW. After a 1,000 MW solar plant and a 111 MW wind power plant of the Solar Energy Corporation (SECI) are commissioned, Delhi will get 1,100 MW more electricity sourced from renewable energy, the officials said.
They also said that work continues on several other renewable energy generation projects, totalling 2,100MW, which are expected to be completed in the near future.
The statement stated that all these actions will result in an increase of sustainable power generation capacity of up to 6,000 MW in the next three-years.
in 2018 and thereafter, the Delhi government signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with several companies to meet growing electricity demand, reports PTI.
