Punjab to solarise 100,000 agricultural tube-wells

To ensure greater use of clean energy in agriculture, the Punjab government has decided to solarise 100,000 existing electric tube-wells, the state’s Minister for New and Renewable Energy Sources Aman Arora said this week. He said the project would save around Rs 2 billion per annum in power subsidy, besides helping to conserve natural resources. The energy sector is transitioning in an unprecedented way, and this revolutionary step will pave the way to ensure cheaper and green energy, the minister said. With the implementation of this project, Punjab will get four major benefits - reducing the burden of subsidy on the exchequer, reducing the demand for power supply, cutting the input cost in agriculture, and saving the environment by replacing conventional power with the solar energy. He said Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) has already invited e-bids for selection of solar power generators for feeder-level solarisation of 25,000 grid connected agricultural pumps. The government provides free power to 13.88 lakh farmers of the state for their grid-connected tube-wells for irrigation, and bears the expenditure of approximately Rs 70 billion as subsidy being paid to the Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL). The minister said the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has accepted the proposal and the allocated the target of 100,000 pumps. Arora said presently the agriculture power tariff is Rs 5.66 per unit and after solarisation of these tube-wells the rate per unit would be much lower, resulting in saving the government Rs 2 billion annually. See also: JSL seeking partners to build 300 MW solar & wind capacitiesIndore forced to drop solar plants from VCS programme