Projects with a capacity of slightly more than 21 MW (MW) will reduce the annual electricity bill of schools by Rs 8.8 crore and earn an additional Rs 8.5 crore from the sale of surplus power to discoms.
New Delhi (Natural Energy News): The Delhi government has set up rooftop solar projects atop 150 school buildings under a central government scheme, creating revenue flow and which is struggling with high maintenance costs amid disruptions due to the Covid-19 epidemic 433 crores for saving.
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Projects with a capacity of slightly more than 21 MW (MW) will reduce the annual electricity bill of schools by Rs 8.8 crore and earn an additional Rs 8.5 crore from the sale of surplus power to discoms. Together, savings and earnings will exceed Rs 433 crore over the 25-year lifetime of solar projects, data show.
Let us consider a government school in West Vinod Nagar to consider the benefits of individual schools. The school is located in the constituency of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, which has the country's largest rooftop solar project, with a capacity of 195 kW (kWh), built by Delhi-based Oakridge Energy. The project will save the school Rs 8 lakh in electricity bills and an annual income of Rs 7.7 lakh.
Oakridge CEO Shravan Sampath said that apart from being financially beneficial for schools, the projects would save 63,000 tonnes of CO2 in total over the project life and contribute to the rooftop solarization goals of Delhi and the country. Okari acquired 15 school rooftop projects in July 2019 in a tender floated by the Delhi government and aims to solarize 1,000 schools and educational institutions by 2022.
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The best thing is that no school had to pay any money. The entire project cost was developed by the chosen developers through competitive bidding. Under the scheme, the centre pays 25% of the installation cost upon completion of a project. The developers recover the remaining cost over a 25-year life cycle. In the case of Delhi, developers will sell electricity at Rs 3.13 per unit, which is a 65% discount on the discom bill. Discom will pay schools Rs 5.65 per unit for each unit of solar energy flowing in the BSES or NDPL grid.
Others said that the implementation of the AAP government allowed 150 projects to be completed with minimal delay despite Covid disruptions. “Unlike other states that ask developers to find government buildings for solarization, the Delhi government identified the schools, drafted the tender criteria and contracted with them. An executive from another company said, "Since the contracts were pre-approved, there was no hindrance in signing after the tenders were awarded."
Under the tender conditions, the projects were to be commissioned in May 2020, or a nine-month tender award. But work has already stopped since February and the shutdown of Covid has resulted in a nationwide lockout due to blockage in the supply of materials.
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Work resumed in May and was extended until 5 October. No wonder, many in the board of industry say that Delhi has set an example of how states can benefit from central schemes if they embrace the welfare of citizens rather than politics.
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