Diu tops as India’s first UT to be fully run by solar power

NewsBharati    16-Mar-2018
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Diu, March 16: While ‘International Solar Alliance’ has kicked started its journey being India as a sole bearer on lead along with other nations- Diu became India’s 1st Union Territory to be fully run by solar power. Congratulations, Diu!

 
Solar energy, a clean renewable resource with zero emissions, has tremendous potential of energy to be harnessed using a variety of devices. Leading the way for the entire country, Diu topped to be fully run by solar power. The UT has made such significant progress in the last 3 years that now Diu produces more than 100% solar power.

Diu, which has a geographical area of 42 sq km, has installed solar power plants across 50 acres of its land.

Diu generates total 13 MW of electricity from its solar power facilities, out of which 3 MW is generated from rooftop plants, while 10 MW is generated from the rest of the facilities.

Milind Ingle, Executive Engineer, Daman and Diu Electricity Department, said that the Union Territory was solely dependent on Gujarat for its water and electricity, so the administration decided to put up power plants to overcome this restriction. Moreover, when electricity from Gujarat's power grids was served to Diu, it suffered a huge line loss. Once the solar facilities started generation of electricity, Diu's electricity loss was reduced marginally.

Further, Ingle also added that Diu, with a population of 56,000, has a peak time demand of 7 MW but they generate about 10.5 MW of electricity daily.

Ingle said that after solar power, the monthly charges have been brought down by 12%. Earlier, 0-50 unit charge was Rs 1.20 per unit, while it was Rs 1.50 for 50-100 units. But once solar power started generating, the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission for Goa and Union Territories removed the 0-50 unit slab entirely. Now, the 0-100 unit costs Rs 1.01 per unit.

India is on course to emerge as a solar power hub and will become one of the largest green energy producers in the world. Exhibitions India Group is organizing the 3rd edition of Solar India 2018 expo which will be held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from 23-25 May 2018. The theme of the exhibition and conference is “Solar Energy for a Sustainable Future.” As part of its blueprint for energy security, the government plans to float five funds of $5 billion each, targeted at promoting green energy sources.

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