There are two main sources of energy – conventional and non-conventional. Conventional energy sources include coal, gas and petroleum products etc. The supply of conventional sources will not last forever. Therefore, it has become necessary to utilize the alternative energy sources to fulfill energy needs of the mankind. Furthermore, the deteriorating environment of the earth has triggered the need of alternative energy sources. Solar, Wind and Biomass are predominant alternative sources of energy, out of which sun and wind are considered as divine forms and have infinite potential to produce energy. The government has decided to focus on alternative energy sources potential, which are acting as boon to promote the usage of environment-friendly renewable sources of energy. Giving preference of conventional sources of energy, reduce crude oil import and also bring down the level of carbon in the environment. Growth of any nation is directly co-related with its energy consumption. Hence, Hon’ble prime minister has encouraged programs to promote renewable sources. As per the energy policy, energy efficiency of the country is planned to be increased by 175,000 MW by 2022 with the help of renewable sources of energy. Remarkable, Gujarat is the first state in the country to declare solar energy policy. The contribution of non-conventional sources of energy in the total energy output of India has increased from 1% to 2%, which curtailed import of coal, gas and petroleum products to the same extend.
Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA) was established in 1979 for promotion and popularization of non-conventional energy sources in the State. GEDA is the first-of-its-kind State Nodal Agency (SNA) in the country, which is also functioning as the first SDA for promotion and implementation of energy conservation and energy efficiency projects in the State. In the year 2015-16, the Government of Gujarat announced new Solar Power Policy, which has encouraged solar rooftop for residential and commercial buildings to produce energy to fulfill their requirements. Similarly, new Wind Power Policy 2016 has been announced by Government of Gujarat and the same is presently in execution stage. Developers have been encouraged to set up windfarms in the areas with high wind velocity. As a result of the Solar Power Policy, total 1140 MW capacity solar power projects have been set up in the State. Gujarat is the solar energy center of the country. Total 4306 MW wind farms have been installed in the State and it is planned to add another 500 MW installed capacity during the current year.
Government of Gujarat has commissioned Asia’s first solar park at Charanka in Patan district. The Park is built on a 2000-hectare non-fertile land near the desert at Santalpur taluka of Patan district. The State is planning to set up another mega 700 MW capacity solar park at Radha Nesda, Ta; Vav, Dist: Banaskantha. A 10 MW capacity canal top project on Narmada Canal at Vadodara has been installed by by Sardar Sarovar Narmda Nigam Limited. There are three main benefits of the canal top plant i.e. increase solar energy generation, reduction in canal water evaporation and utilization of existing canal which avoids additional land for installation of solar power plant. The State has received National Award for the same. In addition to this, 1 MW solar plant has been installed on the Narmda Canal at Chandrasan of Kadi taluka.
Gandhinagar city has been declared as the Model Solar City and to make it a solar and carbon neutral city various green energy have been executed. Grid connected solar rooftops with aggregate capacity of 9415 kW is currently in operation. Solar powered vehicles launched for internal transportation within the State Secretariat (Sachivalay) campus. A solar charging station has been established to meet charging requirements of the vehicles. In addition to this, solar water heaters with total capacity of 66250 LPD, 14000 os of LED tube lights and 8,000 Nos of CFL bulbs have been installed. Investment-Grade Energy Audit was carried out for approximately 15 buildings in Gandhinagar. With these efforts, approximately 14900 tonnes of CO2 emission has been reduced and usage of 10430 tonnes of coal have avoided. In addition to this, solar-power bus service is planned between Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar, which is expected to be launched soon.
Surat city has been selected as a solar city under MNRE programme of Government of India. Under this programme, wind farm of 11.4 MW has been put up by Municipal Corporation of Surat, is enabling power production of approximately 18.24 million units of electricity annually. Along with this, solar rooftop of 850 kW for the captive use has been installed which generates approximately 10,20,000 units of electricity annually. Moreover, a biogas plant of 3.5 MW has been set Municipal Corporation which is honored with a National Award.
To spread awareness about the advantages of non-conventional sources of energy, Hom’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat, the promotion of various technologies and schemes of renewable energy have been incorporated in the Gatisheel Gujarat Program. During the current year, 30 Courts buildings and Government buildings have been provide Solar Power Plants to meet their electricity requirements. Moreover, 28 scheduled caste hostels and ashramshalas are being equipped with solar water systems. Similarly, Institutional Biogas Plants are being installed with subsidy for meeting cooking gas requirements of institutions. In addition to this, 500 LED tube lights has been installed in 500 e-learning schools of the state to save electricity. A step has been taken in the direction of energy conservation by installing solar rooftop on at least two taluka headquarters of each district. Under this initiative, rooftops have been installed on 161 offices of 109 talukas against the target of 66 offices during the year 2015. National-level workshop was organized successfully in May 2015, which evidenced enthusiastic participation of solar power producers of various regions of the Country.
Various programs are implemented to spread awareness about environment, climate change, promotion of renewable sources of energy and peruse energy conservation. ‘Urja Mitra Van, various workshops, seminars training programs, demonstrations and exhibitions as well as energy audits (WTA-Walk through Audit, IGEA-Investment Grade Energy Audit) are few of the instances of such program. Women workshops are organized to encourage participation of women in energy conservation programs.
Gujarat promotes rooftops with additional subsidy for households
State government has announced a scheme of subsidy for promoting large-scale installation of grid connected solar Roof top systems by private residential consumers across the state, with the following terms & conditions:
A subsidy of Rs.10,000 per Kw would be disbursed through GEDA after successful installation and commissioning of roof-top solar systems by private residential consumers with maximum limit of subsidy of Rs.20,000/- per consumer.
The scheme would be limited to installation of 2kW rooftop solar system The capacity of the plant might be higher subject to a ceiling of 50% of contracted load, However, per consumer, maxi-mum subsidy available shall be Rs.20,000
The scheme would be applicable to the Rooftop solar power Generators, set up and commissioned during the operative period of solar power policy-2015
The initial target will be 1,00,000 consumers. The first 1,00,000 consumers would get the benefit of this scheme. There-after, based on the review and as decided by the Government, this scheme may be continued, dis-continued or modified.
As per the terms pre-scribed in the solar power po;-icy-2015, the consumer should install only new plant & machinery and should not shift the plant he/she should be a consumer of the local Discom and the premises where the rooftop system is based should be connected to the local Discom’s Grid System. The beneficiary should own the rooftop solar system, and also should be in legal possession of the premises including rooftop and terrace on which the plant is installed;
GEDA would be the nod-al agency for this scheme. The applicant would need to apply to GEDA in a prescribed from and after certification jointly by GEDA and concerned Distribution Company about successful installation and commissioning of the system; GEDA would release the amount of subsidy to the applicants, limit-ed to Rs.20,000/- per consumer.
This benefit would be in addition to any benefits that the applicant might get from the central However the applicant will not be allowed to get any other benefit from any other scheme of the state Government for the same investment, and if found to have taken benefit from any other scheme of the state Government, the amount of subsidy will be re-covered forthwith.
In all other aspects, the parameters and terms-conditions of solar power policy-2016 would be applied the scheme would re-main limited for Household Roof-top Projects only. Any Industrial, Commercial and other consumers or Government and Semi-Government Organizations will not be eligible for this subsidy.
Under the guidance of Hon’ble Prime Minister and Chief Minister of Gujarat, the State has been able to deliver stupendous performance in achieving the set energy benchmarks. The government is constantly striving to extend the horizons.
The use of alternative energy is the need of today and inevitability of tomorrow…
In the field of Alternative Energy, the State of Gujarat has received a total of 9 National awards in 2015, out of which Surat Municipal Corporation has received 1 award and 8 award have been conferred to the Climate Change/Energy Department of GEDA. Association of Renewal Energy Agencies of state (AREAS) is awarded for the best performance in the field of Renewable Energy.
Below are the details of the awards presented to GEDA for the outstanding performance by Hon’ble Energy Minister, Shri Piyush Goyal, in a ceremony held in Banglore on August 27, 2015.
First award among the states with maximum grid-connected energy generation through solar energy.
First award in the country for maximum grid-connected energy generation in the field of solar rooftop technology
First award for installation of maximum- capacity solar water heater system
Second award for the fulfillment of Renewable power obligation (RPO) during the year Second award in the field of off-grid-solar power plant
Third award for maximum grid-connected power generation through wind energy
Third award among the states with the highest grid-connected power generation by march 31 using renewable energy.