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Kashmir short of 700 MWs

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Srinagar,: As Kashmir falls short of around 700 megawatts during winters, a centrally sponsored scheme has been launched to end power crisis in the state.
Under the scheme, customers can generate the electricity on their own and feed excess power into the power grid. This according to officials will reduce the power shortage of the state.
The Power Development Department Kashmir has availability of 1200 MWs of power, while the demand is expected to reach 1900 MWs in the coming weeks.
The PDD officials toldVOV that that there was no other option than to go for power cuts during winter months when the power consumption increases.
While the centrally sponsored scheme ‘Rooftop Solar Power Plants’ of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, (MNRE) is being implemented by the Jammu and Kashmir Energy Development Agency (JAKEDA) in the state. “If the scheme is implemented properly, it will end power crisis of the state,” an official said.
The officials said under the scheme the customers who intend to generate solar energy and set upsolar plants on roof-tops can get the government subsidy of 70 percent.
“The grid connect roof top solar power plants will generate electricity on own with or without battery back-up support,” the official of the JAKEDA said.
Give details about the benefits of the scheme, he said, “If any customer is getting an electricity bill of Rs 3000, after installing the roof top solar power plants, there could be around 70 to 80 percent decrease in the power bill.”
He said that consumers can generate solar power for self-consumption and could feed excess power into the government grid.
“The rooftop solar power plants generate electricity and will also reduce the power purchasing cost of the government. The main focus is on power generation on own and reduce dependence on hydro electricity,” the official said.
For the last one decade, around Rs 30,000 crore has been spent on power purchase by the state.
The state government has spent Rs 1355 crore on power purchase in 2006-07, Rs 1750 crore in 2007-08, Rs 2034 in 2008-09.
During 2015-16, and 2016-17, around Rs 5000 crore was spent on each year on power purchase by the state. While there has been around 50 percent revenue generation gap over the years. “It will end revenue generation gap and will also decrease the power purchasing cost,” the official said.
“We are getting a good response from the people for the scheme. The rooftop solar power plants and water heating solar plants have a success rate of 99 percent and can generate electricity even during snowfall.”
He said that the JAKEDA has been harnessing solar power in the state to cope up the power crisis in the state.
“The solar power plants are operational in most of the district hospitals. Several government departments and educational institutions like NIT, IUST also generate electricity through solar power plants to ensure uninterrupted power supply,” he said.
The solar power plants have been most beneficial to far-flung areas where they are being used as a back up to the regular power supply, he added.

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