Punjab targets 1,000 MW solar power

CHANDIGARH - Faced with a severe power crunch, the Punjab government Saturday announced that it would set up a chain of solar power plants over the next two years to generate nearly 1,000 MW of electricity.

The solar power plants will be set up in collaboration with US-based SunPower Corporation and Enterprise Business Solutions (EBS), a state government spokesman said.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal directed the Science and Technology department Secretary Viswajeet Khanna to prepare a comprehensive plan to establish a network of solar power plants in the state through the Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA).

SunPower and EBS have been asked to set up a demonstration projects on rooftops of government buildings for tapping solar energy. These will later on replicated in other government buildings such as district administrative complexes, warehousing and Markfed godowns, officials said.

Badal said that he would soon call on Union Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah to get solar power projects allotted for Punjab under various schemes.

SunPower representative Gurmeet Naroola told Badal and other officials at a meeting that the company would invest nearly Rs.5 billion (Rs.500 crore) for the project.

EBS chairman and managing director Jessie Singh said that EBS-SunPower had already started work for commissioning the first grid- connected 5 MW solar power plant at Sahiba village in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district. It is likely to be operational by July.