PANAJI
In a first, Goa on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding to discuss rolling out of India’s first project under the newly formed Convergence Energy Services Limited (Convergence) in the State.
The MoU was signed with Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), in the presence of R K Singh, Minister (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Nilesh Cabral, Power Minister, Goa, Sanjiv Nandan Sahai, Secretary, Ministry of Power and other senior officers of the Ministry.
Under the agreement, EESL will install 100 MW of decentralized ground-mounted solar power projects on government land which will be used for agriculture.
Around 6,300 agricultural pumps will be replaced with energy-efficient pumps. The EESL will also distribute approximately 16 lakh LED bulbs for rural domestic households.
DNRE will carry out the feasibility studies and subsequent implementation of decentralized solar energy projects.
Cabral said that "Goa is the first State to adopt Convergence. The project will save Rs 2,574 crore of the State over a period of 25 years while providing cleaner power.
According to the agreement clean day time electricity will be provided to farmers as well as energy-efficient pump sets which would reduce the power consumption as well as transmission losses.
Singh said, the MoU signed between EESL and Government of Goa in some sense marks the beginning of the fresh green revolution.
He said, "this model is expected to be adopted by other states as this will reduces losses in terms of expenditure on water for farm sector which runs into crores of rupees. That pre-empts State spending on health, education, and other important sectors."
Singh also said he has asked his Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to look out for incentivising saving on energy and groundwater by farmers.
The projects will accelerate the usage of renewable energy sources, especially for agricultural and rural power consumption in the State. It will also contribute to the reduction of peak energy demand through the deployment of energy-efficient pumping and lighting thus contributing to overall sustainability.
Singh said, “the energy sector and the electricity sector in particular are transitioning in an unprecedented way. With this programme, Goa can avail 3 major benefits through reduced burden of subsidy, increased efficiency of products reducing power consumption and reduced burden on the environment. With this initiative, along with the Kusum Scheme, Goa is well on path of becoming a green state.”
In Goa, with the objective of providing clean power at affordable rates, EESL will install solar projects in a first of its kind large scale programme where vacant/unused land provided by the Gram Panchayats/electricity board will be utilized.
The solar power plant will be installed near the substation, with capacities ranging from 500KW to 2 MW, depending on the area of the land and this will help to supply power during the day time and reduce transmission losses.
Speaking on the occasion, Sanjiv Nandan Sahai, Secretary, Ministry of Power, said “We believe that now that solar power has become affordable, implementing projects such as these can become a powerful means to eventually solarize our villages. Decentralized models of power development are becoming more and more important, and approaches such as the one being taken hold great promise to allow India to achieve her development goals”.
Convergence builds upon the decentralised solar development experience in under-served rural communities in India, and over time, using battery energy storage, will deliver renewable energy solutions to power agricultural pumps, street lighting, domestic lighting and cooking appliances in villages.
Convergence will also work to enable battery powered electric mobility and its infrastructure and design business models to increase the uptake of electric vehicles in India. To enable commercialization of these solutions at scale,
Convergence will employ business models that utilize a blend of concessionary and commercial capital, carbon finance and grants as appropriate.
