The Hindu Business Line : BHEL solar project to put Lakshadweep in limelight

THE island group of Lakshadweep, power-starved until the mid-1980s, turned to the Sun a few years ago. It is now set to have the largest solar electrification project in the entire Asia-Pacific.

By the middle of next year, grid-interactive solar photo voltaic power plants being put up by Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd will contribute over 1 MW or 20 per cent of the island group's total power needs, according to Mr A. Bhattacharya, Head and Executive Director of BHEL's Electronics Division at Bangalore.

Most of the total demand of 6 MW is currently being met largely through a complex grid system run on diesel generator sets for each island.

Under a Rs 21.22-crore project supported by the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources, BHEL is putting up a solar plant on each of the 11 inhabited islands.

So far, it has commissioned five 100-KW and one 150-KW solar project on three islands, Mr Bhattacharya told Business Line. Three more 100-KW projects and two 50-KW plants are under way and are expected to be ready by mid-2005.

That would make the ecologically-sensitive coral atoll in the Arabian Sea one of the largest solar-powered habitations in the world. It would also save Rs 1.2 crore a year on the diesel cost besides reducing its transportation cost and storage during three rainy months when ferries don't ply from the mainland.

The SPV business also forms 10-15 per cent of the turnover of Rs 400 crore of the Bangalore division, which makes millions of solar cells, builds their modules and also installs solar equipment for its domestic and overseas customers.

The Rs 8,000-crore BHEL has also identified the solar and other renewable energy sources, spread across its Bangalore, Uttaranchal and Ranipet divisions, as a key growth area over the next few years.

Each year, the Union Territory guzzles some 66 lakh litres of diesel, transporting the HSD barrels from the IOC depot at Kozhikode by ferries.

The diesel totes up a Rs 14-crore bill, making the unit cost of power a high Rs 8.22, according to a paper prepared by Mr C.M. Ahmed, Executive Engineer (Electricity) of Lakshadweep.

The sunny story began in 1988 when BHEL put up a 5-MW stand-alone on the tiny Bitra island. It introduced its grid-linked technology and the others followed.

By mid-2005, the UT expects to have 9 x 100 and 2 x 50 MW plants.

"The decentralised, modular, upgradable and clean technology provides a balanced solution to our energy problems," said Mr Ahmed.

"Our goal is to set up SPV power plants aggregating to 1,050 kWp capacity, which will meet about 20 per cent of the territory's energy demand."

Lakshadweep is among the 10 larger solar energy projects of BHEL, which is also implementing an electrification plan for 35 remote villages in Chhattisgarh; lighting of 200 schools in tribal Jharkand; and power plants in the Sunderbans and the Andamans, besides exporting roof-top systems for Germany.

SPV equipment take up stadium-sized areas and the islands could have been fully solar-powered if space were not a constraint, officials said.

More Stories on : Non-conventional Energy

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page