Ayodhya to become Uttar Pradesh’s First Solar City

Highlights:

Ayodhya Solar City is a 5-year project which is being developed in phases.
As part of the first phase, UPNEDA is planning to install ground-mounted and rooftop solar, solar streetlights, solar charging stations, solar trees, etc. by January 2024.

The Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Department Agency (UPNEDA) is developing the temple town of Ayodhya as the state’s first solar city.

“The plan is to develop Ayodhya as the model for the solar city project and use the learnings in the implementation of solar policies in other proposed cities,” stated Anupam Shukla, Director, UPNEDA.

As part of the initiative, the state government is taking multiple steps including developing a 40 MW solar park along the banks of the Saryu River and operating solar-powered boats and solar streetlights. Moreover, solar energy is being adopted for public transport, and solar-powered charging points, drinking kiosks, and solar trees are being installed in the city.

Additionally, the state government is solarizing government buildings and encouraging residents to install rooftop solar through incentives like solar subsidies.

The solar city is a 5-year project (2023-28) which will be completed in phases. Under the first phase, NTPC Green is installing a 10 MW capacity of the Saryu River project. Moreover, rooftop solar plants with a cumulative capacity of 2.5 MW are being installed over 117 government buildings. This includes :

A 250 kW plant at RML Awadh University
A 155 kW plant at Agriculture University
A 100 kW capacity panel at the district court
A 58 kW plant at Ram Katha Museum
50 kW plants at multiple government secondary schools.

The state is also targeting 6 MW rooftop solar capacity in the residential and commercial segment.

UPNEDA has already installed 134 solar smart streetlights in Ayodhya and will set up 276 more streetlights soon. These will be special streetlights where the battery gets fitted inside the pole and solar panels are installed on top. They will be set up along the 12.9 km Ram Path.

Apart from these, the state has already installed over 800 conventional solar streetlights in the city.

Moreover, UPNEDA is installing forty solar trees of 1kW capacity and eighteen of 2.5kW capacity. The unique trees will have solar panels as branches and will provide shade as well. They will be installed over small drinking water kiosks and benches.

In a bid to promote electric vehicles and clean energy, the civic agency is also setting up solar-powered EV charging stations. Moreover, UPNEDA will set up solar cold storage at the Mandi to help farmers store their produce.

All these ongoing projects are expected to be completed by January 2024, right before the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Apart from the city, the state government is developing 15 other municipal corporations and Noida as solar cities.

Uttar Pradesh is now at the forefront of India’s clean energy transition. In 2022, the state launched its new Solar Energy Policy with a target of developing 22 GW of solar capacity by 2026-27. In October 2023, the state government also launched a ‘Har Ghar Solar’ campaign to promote the adoption of rooftop solar