2838 Govt buildings to be solarised with 63 MW capacity

Srinagar, July 30: A total of 2838 government buildings in Jammu and Kashmir are set to be solarised with a cumulative capacity of 63 MW.

Reviewing the progress of solar rooftops on government buildings across J&K, Commissioner Secretary, Science and Technology (S&T), Saurabh Bhagat Tuesday directed NHPC-REL to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with four beneficiary departments regarding roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders and share monthly progress with the S&T Department every month.

Chairing the meeting at the civil secretariat here to discuss and review the progress regarding the strategy for saturation of solar rooftops on government buildings in J&K under RESCO mode by NHPC-REL, he took a review of the action plan from the NHPC-REL for solarisation of government buildings across J&K under RESCO mode.

Bhagat also advised the REC to conduct a business investment seminar in J&K where investors across the country would be invited to showcase the business prospects in the solar sector.

He directed the REC to conduct an awareness and capacity building programme in collaboration with JAKEDA for handholding of respective departments about RESCO mode of implementation, and methodology of payment to the developer for installation of the rooftop solar power plants.

During the meeting, it was informed that NHPC-REL being a project implementing agency had been given the task of carrying out solarisation of about 2838 government buildings with a cumulative capacity of about 63 MWs.

The meeting was also informed that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had sought a firm commitment from all states and union territories to solarise all government buildings through the installation of rooftop solar power plants to reduce energy bills and dependence on fossil fuels to achieve the renewable power obligations under various national and international commitments.

Accordingly, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has nominated REC Ltd and CPSU-NHPC as the project monitoring and project implementing agencies respectively for the project.

Chief Executive Officer, NHPC-REL, Chief Program Manager, REC-India Ltd, Additional Secretary, S&T, Nodal Officers from Forest Ecology and Environment, Home, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Jal Shakti departments and JAKEDA attended the meeting.