In its bid for the ‘smart city’ tag, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC)’s solar project is gathering momentum. The civic body will inaugurate the Solar Roof Top Power Project on Tuesday at a government school in its area. The council has also initiated a policy under which households can produce solar energy and transfer it to the power grid.
“There are two places in government schools where solar panels are going to be set up. They are expected to generate around 1.7 MW of electricity,” a senior NDMC official said.
Elaborating on the measures the civic body is undertaking for its solar project, an NDMC official said even households willing to install solar panels on their rooftops will be allowed to link their units to the electricity distribution network. According to the NDMC, the electricity generated from household solar units will be purchased and adjusted in the monthly bill.
“If there is some surplus, the power can be transferred to our grid. As of now, there are just five households which have shown interest in this scheme. We are looking at these applications as well as those by commercial consumers,” the official added.
He pointed out that the council also plans to provide “net metres” under the scheme in order to keep a tab on the amount of electricity sold. “These metres will have two diallers — one for calculating the amount of electricity used by the consumer and the other to assess the amount exported as surplus. Consumers will have to get these metres installed on their own,” the official said.
In order to ensure the smooth generation and transmission of solar power, the civic body will conduct a feasibility check. “We will check if the connection can be linked to the NDMC grid. The consumers will be required to sign an agreement with the council for setting up rooftop solar panels. After receiving a go-ahead in the feasibility check, the consumer can install net metres,” the official said.
While the solar power project has been a significant project for the NDMC, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) had expressed reservations about the scheme. “We have now received a green signal from the DERC. They asked us to charge consumers for the surplus – the amount between the energy generated and that which is exported. As far as billing is concerned, normal rates will be applicable. Subsidies announced by the government will also be implemented, as per usage,” an official said.
Over a year ago, the civic body had been selected under the Solar City Project of the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Following this, the NDMC had invited proposals from private bidders or aggregators for installing solar panels.
