To promote solar power and green building concept in the state, the West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation Limited (WBGEDCL) is planning to bring in a regulatory framework by which individual producers, producing more than 250 kilowatt (kw) of solar power on their rooftops will be able to sell solar power directly to the grid at Rs 15 per unit.
“WBGEDCL is doing a study under a UNDP project where it has been found that in Kolkata alone, there are 0.6 million buildings with a total roof surface area of 200 million square feet which, if used for solar power harvesting, can generate 2000 megawatt (mw) of solar power per annum,” said S P Gon Chaudhuri, managing director, WBGEDCL, on the sidelines of an interactive seminar on “green building” organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The study is expected to be completed by August this year after which further action can be taken.
One of the main obstacles to solar power production is the high cost of installation and cost of production. The current cost of production is Rs 11 crore for solar power while in thermal power, the benchmark is Rs 4 crore and for hydel it is Rs 6 crore. But Gon Chaudhuri pointed out, that the cost of of production of solar power had now come down to Rs 11 crore per megawatt, while it was Rs 15crore last year. This can be further reduced to Rs 6 crore per megawatt once nano solar cell comes to India.
States like West Bengal, Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan have announced renewable energy policies and tariff rates to boost renewable energy production. WBGEDCL is mulling a proposal wherein any entity producing over 2kw of solar power can get it connected to the grid. This will be then adjusted with his/her electricity bill. "And if the entity produces more than 250kw of solar power that can be put to commercial use, CESC is bound to purchase the power paying a tariff of Rs 15 per unit," said Gon Chaudhuri.