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| Despite vast potential for solar energy, Govt fails to generate power | | | Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Feb 11: Despite Jammu and Kashmir having second highest solar power potential in the country, Government has failed to harness the same to meet the power requirement in the state.
While people of Jammu and Kashmir are craving for uninterrupted power supply these days, no measures have been taken by the authorities over the years to harness solar power potential in the state.
State is suffering for want of power as it has to purchase electricity worth hundreds of crores annually from the Centre owned National Hydro Electricity Power Corporation (NHPC).
J&K has the potential of hydroelectricity of 20,000 MWs of which 2600 MWs have been harnessed so far. As per the study conducted by the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Jammu and Kashmir has solar power potential of 111.05 GWp, the second highest in India after Rajasthan that has the potential 142 GWp.
J&K is being provided a little share of hydroelectricity power generation. Instead it should have focus on harnessing solar power to meet the state power requirement; the J&K has also failed to do so and is far behind than other states where the potential is less than 60 GWp. The Centre had initiated solar power plant programme to provide solar power in far-flung areas but the state government has failed to bear positive results from the programme to make the state self-sufficient in power generation.
Sources said the Centre has sanctioned several solar power projects to J&K but there has been no headway in implementing these programmes. Sources said many solar power projects established in the state were lying defunct.
"The authorities have even failed many solar power plants among which many got damaged in September 2014 floods," official sources said.
India launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) in 2010 and set an ambitious target of installing 10,000MW of solar power by 2017 and 20,000MW by 2022.
The Union Government under this mission was to establish solar photovoltaic plants in many government institutions to provide hassle-free electricity with zero emission in the state. Under this scheme, two major projects with the potential of generating 7500 Mega Watts of solar power plant were also sanctioned for Leh and Kargil districts. However, the J&K government has shown least interest to set up these plants nor it prepared the detailed projected reports for the same, sources said. "Even pre-feasibility reports are yet to be prepared whether establishments of projects would be financially viable," sources said. Ladakh has a huge potential in tapping solar power. Vast patches of barren land surrounded by gigantic mountains make Leh a suitable place for setting up the solar power plants.
"The annual average solar energy in Leh is 5530 Whr/m2/day, Karil 5390 Whr/m2/day. But government has failed to tap the solar power potential in these places," a senior official said. He said government has also failed to prepare detailed project report for Solar City for Leh that was sanctioned by Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
Seeing the potential of solar power in J&K, the government had framed solar power policy in 2013 to harness the solar power. "There has been least focus of the government to harness the solar power in the state," the official said. Sources said the Centre had also decided to build the world's largest solar power project Ladakh to generate 5,000 megawatts of power, which requires 20,000 acres of land. "But there has been no headway in setting up the project," the official said. |
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