Odisha plans roof top solar projects atop 1000 government buildings

A pioneer state in roof top solar projects in the country, Odisha has firmed up plans to scale up capacities by covering key cities and towns. Through roof top solar projects, the state government intends to generate 15 Mw of energy.

It is in the scale of implementation of solar roof top projects that Odisha expects to better the performance of other states.

"There are roof top projects installed in different parts of the country. But no state government has undertaken a project at such a massive scale in the country and the Odisha government is the pioneer among the states. About 900-1000 government buildings covering 17 cities and towns will be used for generating solar energy", said an official.

The state has already implemented 4 Mw roof top projects in the twin city of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. The project was executed by Azure Power Mercury Pvt Ltd and will get connected to the state grid in February this year.

The towns identified for coverage by solar roof top projects are Sambalpur, Burla, Hirakud, Rourkela, Puri, Khurda, Berhampur, Chhattrapur, Jeypore, Koraput, Sunabeda, Balasore, Bhadrak and Baripada. The uncovered buildings in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar are also likely to be included in a tender to be floated soon by state run Green Energy Development Company Ltd (Gedcol). 

To incentivise solar roof top projects, the state government is impressing upon the Centre to provide subsidy. Odisha is also contemplating to provide subsidy on its own.

In its Renewable Energy Policy-2016, the state government plans to touch 2200 Mw of solar energy capacity by 2022.

Odisha through its bulk power trader cum buyer Gridco Ltd conducted its maiden solar auctions in July 2018. Tenders were invited for 200 Mw capacity with the Green Shoe option to scale up to 300 Mw. Though tenders were oversubscribed by over four times, only 75 Mw was allotted to Aditya Birla Renewables, a company that finished as the L1 bidder, quoting Rs 2.79 tariff per unit. Gridco decided to scrap tenders for the residual 125 Mw capacity as L2 and L3 bidders did not mellow on their price quotes. Three companies were tied at the L1 price of Rs 3.19 per unit. The L3 bidder had quoted a price of Rs 3.20.

Gridco has now decided to retender for the failed 125 Mw capacity sometime next month. Also, with competitive price discovery at the inaugural solar auctions, Gridco mulls to invite bids for higher capacities in the future.