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Industrial and Commercial buildings connected to a high tension power load will have to use solar power to meet a portion of their power consumption , according to a solar energy policy announced by the Tamil Nadu Government on Saturday.
The policy offers incentives and mandates exploitation of solar energy in industrial, commercial and residential buildings. An official press release said, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa released the Tamil Nadu Solar Energy Policy 2012 on Saturday . The objectives of the policy are energy security, establishing 3,000 MW of solar power generation and encouraging production of solar energy equipment. The proposed addition to generation capacity will be over the next three years with 1,000 MW being added each year, the release said.
The State Government will mandate 6 per cent solar purchase obligation from January 2014. Initially, till December 2013, it will be 3 per cent. This means HT power consumers including SEZs, industries guaranteed uninterrupted power, IT parks, telecom towers, colleges and residential schools and buildings of more than 20,000 sq m will have to meet the mandated power requirement from solar power.
They can meet the obligation through captive generation, purchase from third parties, through renewable energy certificates or buying power from the power utility at solar tariff.
The policy also provides for generation based incentives for domestic solar power production through roof top installations. The target will be to set up 50 MW of generation through this scheme.
Utility scale solar power parks of 1-10 MW each will be encouraged to bring in over 1,500 MW of solar power generation capacity. Developers will be selected through the competitive and reverse bidding routes.
To attract solar power equipment production, preference will be given for investors in this sector for land allocation in industrial estates, tax incentives will be provided and the Government will also encourage integrated generation and manufacturing facilities.
Net metering will also be introduced in residences and commercial establishments to offset the solar power generated from the electricity consumption that is billed. The policy also provides for a range of tax incentives in line with the industrial policy.
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