Amritsar to be Transformed into a Solar City Under Punjab State Energy Plan

Highlights:

  • Punjab government launches Punjab State Energy Action Plan to promote energy efficiency across multiple sectors
  • As part of this plan, PEDA will develop Amritsar as a solar city.

On Wednesday, 10th May, the Punjab New and Renewable Energy Sources Department launched the Punjab State Energy Action Plan to promote energy efficiency in buildings, industries, municipalities, agriculture, transport, and other sectors.

It aims to help state governments adopt the most sustainable, long term and inter-sectoral renewable energy plan.

As part of this initiative, the city of Amritsar will be developed as a ‘solar city’. PEDA will install a cumulative rooftop solar capacity of 2.33 MW over government buildings. The state government has already kicked off Phase-1, under which solar panels will be installed on 74 buildings, and initiated the bidding process.

Further, the agency has instructed all departments to come forward to solarize office buildings in order to decarbonize the power sector. The move will not only help organizations reduce their power consumption charges by 25-30% but also aid in fast-tracking the implementation of the action plan.

Additionally, PEDA has also launched a decision support tool, Amritsar smart city portal, and a renewable purchase obligation (RPO) portal to smoothen the adoption of RE technologies. Also, the agency signed a MoU with GIZ’s IGEN Access program (Indo-German Energy programme) to seek technical assistance in the RE area.

The Punjab government is striving to promote solar energy and reduce the reliance on conventional energy sources. Last year, the state government approved a sum of ₹60.5 crores to install solar power systems over rural piped water supply schemes. The state is also planning to develop canal top and floating solar projects with a total capacity of 300 MW.

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Resource: ET Energy World

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