Amritsar and Ludhiana to be future solar cities

If everything goes well according to the plan conceptualised by Punjab, Amritsar and Ludhiana can be solar cities in the near future.

Already, the Centre has given its nod for preparation of master plan for these cities. The master plan prepared by a consultant will set a goal of minimum 10 per cent reduction in the projected total demand of conventional energy at the end of five years to be achieved through energy saving from energy efficiency measures and generation from renewable energy installations.

The programme on ‘Development of Solar Cities’ would support and encourage urban local bodies to prepare a roadmap to guide the cities in becoming ‘renewable energy cities’ or ‘solar cities’ or ‘eco-green cities’.

Speaking to Business Standard, Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) Director, Balour Singh said, “Already, we have floated tenders for hiring consultant for preparing master plan and nine companies have shown interest. We are in the process of evaluating the bids and very soon, the consultant would be finalised. The consultant will prepare master plan for these cities that will include complete information about the population of the city, energy consumption by domestic household, commercial establishments, industrial household etc.”

It is expected that within a period of three months after award of the tender, the master plan will be ready.

The prepared master plan would provide total and sector-wise projections for energy demand and supply for next 10 years.

Further, it would provide a complete sector-wise base-line on energy utilisation and green house gases emissions in the city.

Also, year-wise targets for energy conservation, renewable energy addition and GHG abatement along with the action plan for implementation will be clearly brought out in the master plan.

Further, potential sources of funding from respective organisations (both public and private) for providing financial support will be identified in the master plan.

Before finalisation, the draft Master Plan would be discussed in a Stakeholders Consultation Workshop having representation from elected representatives, local research and academic institutions, resident welfare associations, industries and corporate organisations, NGOs, etc.

This step involves predicting the energy demand for 5 year and 10 year periods and to estimate the demand, growth in energy use in different sectors needs to be established. These growth rates would be used for making future projection of energy demand in each sector for year 2013 (five year) and 2018 (10 year).

Singh added after preparation of master plan we will approach the centre for funding purpose. As per the ministry of new and renewable energy scheme, 50 per cent of the total project cost(maximum upto Rs. 9 crore) would be borne by the centre while remaining portion would be funded by the state government.