Promise of Amritsar becoming solar city remains far-fetched

Over the years, the promises of successive governments of developing Amritsar into a solar city have remained elusive. While the state government kicked off Phase I of the project in May 2023 the Union Government had decided to develop the city into a solar one back in 2015.

Rajinder Singh, an industrialist, said: “It is a wise step to make the city self-reliant in terms of power. Solar energy is available in abundance in the region and its use can reduce the dependence on traditional sources of energy.” Production of solar energy, which remains largely untapped, could meaningfully curtail production costs in the region he said.

Ramesh Rampal, a city resident, said thousands of houses were being constructed each year but not even one per cent of these had a solar-powered energy system. “The government needs to enact relevant laws to ensure installation of green energy on new houses,” he added.

Last year, to cut down reliance on costly conventional power and promote solar energy, Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) released an ambitious plan according to which solar rooftops of a cumulative capacity of 2.33 mega watts (MW) would be installed on a total of 190 government buildings, which were identified after a comprehensive survey, conducted with the help of drones. The objective was to achieve the net zero emissions goal in various sectors. Switching over to panels to de-carbonise the power sector would also help reduce power consumption charges by 25 to 30 per cent.

Earlier, in 2015, the Union Government’s decision to develop Amritsar into a solar city delivered limited results. Following which the SAD-BJP government framed a net metering policy for the production of solar energy. According to which, anyone could set up a solar-powered system to a capacity, ranging from 1 KW to 500 KW. The maximum capacity of rooftop solar PV system’s could not be more than 80 per cent of the sanctioned load. The Union Government was extending a 33 per cent subsidy on the installation of the apparatus under the scheme, too.

Rajesh Bansal, PEDA Joint Director, talking to The Tribune, said the PEDA floated the tender for installation of the solar panels multiple times but the company did not technically qualify. This time six companies had evinced interest and the tender was yet to be awarded. He said according to the norms applicable under the scheme, third party investment was to be made. Under which the company selected through tender would install the entire rooftop paraphernalia to harness solar energy. Then the electricity drawn would be used by the department concerned at a rate relative to the prevailing PSPCL energy tariffs. He said the power purchase agreement would be between the bidding owner, where solar panels were installed, and the vendor, who would be a selected bidder for 25 years.