Goa govt now tags Panjim smart city as solar city

Goa capital Panjim has been designated as a solar city by the state government.

The electricity needs of Panjim will now be met by roof-top solar power plants.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had asked all states to identify at least one city that would be developed as a Solar City, with all households having rooftop solar plants and the city's energy needs being entirely met by solar energy and other renewable energy sources.

The states were also asked to finalise an action plan for developing the identified city as a Solar City following the MNRE's concept and putting it into action promptly.

As a result, the Goa government has chosen the capital city, which the Ministry of Urban Development has already designated as a smart city.

Sanjeev Joglekar, member secretary of the Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA), has been appointed as the nodal officer for Solar City by the government.

GEDA conducted an inspection in Panjim at the request of Imagine Panjim Smart City Development Limited to determine the feasibility of installing on-grid solar power plants on the roofs of various government buildings.

The survey was conducted to install roof-top/ground-mounted solar power plants as per the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) regulation under the virtual metering system on 34 locations, depending on the availability of the roof, shadow-free area, and the electrical sanction load.

A 500 kW plant in an EDC parking space at Patto-Panjim, where a car parking shed will be erected and solar panels will be installed above the structure to provide shade for cars and generate power that will be fed to the nearest electricity substation, is an exception to the roof-top solar plants.

According to the estimates prepared by GEDA for 34 locations, a solar grid-connected power plant with an aggregated capacity of 2,150 kWp can be installed on the given locations with a net/virtual metering system for an estimated cost of Rs 1,261.45 lakh.

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