Arunanchal Pradesh Gets Its Largest Solar Plant

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Prema Khandu inaugurated the state’s biggest solar power plant on Thursday at the Energy Awareness Park.

Implemented by the Arunachal Pradesh Energy Development Agency (APEDA), the 1 MW capacity plant was commissioned on April 1, 2018, at an estimated cost of Rs 8.50 crores. The work on the plant began on April 19, 2016, and was completed on March 30 this year.

Praising the officials of Arunachal Pradesh Energy Development Agency (APEDA), who successfully implemented the project, Chief Minister, Khandu urged them to pursue more such environmental-friendly projects in the future.

He told the Times of India, “Our activities should not disturb the environment. A solar power plant is more environment-friendly in comparison to a gas-based project,” adding that PM Modi has been initiating several measures to minimise the effects of global warming.

Additionally, work is in progress to attain the target set by the Central government for rural electrification by the end of this year under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY). “As of now, 10% off-grid power connectivity in villages of the state are being implemented by the APEDA and the state government is contemplating to install solar plants in various health centres and upcoming mini-secretariats in the districts,” the chief minister told PTI

On the other hand, talking about the largest solar power plant commissioned in the state, APEDA director Marki Loya said that the plant has been feeding the power generation into the 11 KV grid network of the state power department. “Depending on weather condition and solar radiation, the generation starts in the morning at 05.30 am till 06.00 p.m. It has attained a peak generation of 1.07 MW and the energy generated from the date of its commissioning is more than 1 lakh units, and the deemed CO2 reduction by the plant so far is 78 tonnes,” Loya informed the reporters

With the commissioning of the plant, the import of energy from the neighbouring states has been reduced, thereby reducing the energy bill payable by the state. Moreover, being strategically located in the load centre, it will also help in reduction of line losses. Not only that, the plant is completely automatic and unmanned. It automatically switches on when sunshine and grid is available and switches off when either sunshine or grid supply or both are not available.

Also published on Medium.