Under the solar energy
programmes of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
a total of 74,203 solar home lighting systems, 11,328
solar street lighting systems, 83,378 solar lanterns,
659 solar pumps, 956 kWp capacity of solar PV plants
and 57,532 solar cookers have been installed during
the last three years. A state wise list of these systems
is given in Annexure. The programme on solar water heaters
is implemented through Banks and other financial institutions,
therefore, state wise details are not maintained. During
the last three years about 10 lakh square metre solar
thermal collector area has been installed in the country,
mainly for solar water heaters. These systems are estimated
to save about 608 million units of electricity in a
year.
Recently the Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy has announced a demonstration programme to support
mega watt size grid interactive solar power generation
projects, up to a maximum capacity of 50 MW, in the
country. Any registered company, as project developer,
would be eligible to set up solar power projects on
build, own and operate basis. Proposal from each project
developer with a maximum aggregate capacity of 5 MW,
either through a single project or multiple projects
of a minimum capacity of 1 MW each, would be considered.
A maximum of 10 MW capacity solar
power generation projects would be considered in a State.
Preference would be given to the projects from the States
where the State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs)
have announced or are in the process of announcing tariff
for solar power.
For projects approved and commissioned
by 31st December, 2009, the Ministry will provide generation
based incentive up to Rs.12 per kWh for solar photovoltaic
power and Rs.10 per kWh for solar thermal power fed
to the grid by the solar power project developers, after
taking in to account the tariff provided by the SERC
or the utility. The Ministry will also provide incentive
to the concerned utility and the State Nodal Agency,
which will be involved in implementation and monitoring
of the projects in that State.
Investment of about Rs. 1,000 crore
is expected by public and private sectors through installation
of 50 MW capacity solar power plants during the 11th
plan period.
This information was given by the
Minister of State for New And Renewable Energy, Shri
Vilas Muttemwar, in a written reply to a question by
Shri Balashowry Vallabhaneni, Shri Chandra Bhushan Singh,
Shri Dushyant Singh in the Lok Sabha today.
Source:
Press Information Bureau Date: March 14, 2008
