Indian renewable energy lobby group the Centre for Environment and Energy Development (CEED) and solar analysts Bridge to India (BTI), today (Friday) presented their Rooftop Revolution: Uncovering Patna's solar potential report, disclosing the city's potential for 277 MW of solar by 2025 on rooftops.
Tobias Engelmeier, founder and director of BTI, and the report's author, said: "The campaign, initiated by Greenpeace in the state of Bihar, aims to raise awareness about how much renewable, local power generation models can contribute to Bihar's growth.
"Bridge to India's comprehensive analysis of the current power scenario of the state concludes that, in the long run, a large-scale adoption of solar power in Patna can be a key building block to an affordable and reliable power supply.
"Bridge to India's modelling revealed Patna has the geographical potential to install around 759 MW of rooftop solar. This is twice the current India-wide installed rooftop solar capacity.
"The solar rooftop market is a great opportunity for companies and investors, offering innovative sales, operations and financing solutions. Analysts at Bridge to India have envisaged a roadmap for Patna to help meet its energy demands by adopting solar in a phased manner.
"The city could add 277 MW by 2025 without significant technical challenges, storage requirements or dedicated grid investments. Thus, solar could meet about 20 per cent of the city's power requirement."
Patna could start producing up to 35 MW of solar energy in the initial phase by using the roof space on government and industrial buildings.
"The Solar Rooftop revolution for Patna is not just a report but a vision to realize Patna as a green capital powered by clean and sustainable sources of energy like solar," said CEED programme co-ordinator, Akanksha Upadhyay, "This report comes at a time when the new draft of urban development policy recognizes the programme for solar rooftop projects.
Solar bridges the gap
"This would bridge the gap between an ever-increasing electricity crisis and rising tariffs. This report provides an alternative pathway. What is required is political intent to convert this vision into a reality."
The largest potential for solar power rests with residential buildings, which account for 86% of the city's solar potential.
The estimated solar-suitable rooftop space in Patna is around 9 sq km, which can accommodate 759 MW of solar panels.
The report not only maps the potential and viability of various building types falling under different tariff categories, but also detailed business models and scenarios under which solar rooftop is advantageous.
For residences, solar rooftop is still complex and needs fiscal support. However, the increasing power tariffs from grid electricity and the falling price of solar systems make it a sustainable source of energy.
Government buildings are key
Significantly, government buildings, due to their proximity to each other and large roof space, facilitate a bundling of projects that can enable larger project sizes.
Large solar systems reduce the per-kW cost considerably, making solar already viable for government buildings. Hence, there is clear viability for solar power in Patna without long-term capital subsidies, as the scenarios in the report illustrate.
"Solar power is now not about if, but when," said Jasmeet Khurana, senior manager of market intelligence for BTI. "It is inevitable as the energy system of the future. What was lacking was the insight into the potential the city holds.
"This report fills that gap and is an exhaustive document that outlines the new energy structure for Patna. This report provides arguments and data to the Bihar government, distribution companies and its people, to show why solar makes sense for the city."
The report was released at a conference in Patna. Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) Bihar chapter, Mr S P Sinha; founder and secretary-general of the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI), Shri Shaibal Gupta; and chairman of Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission Mr U N Panjiar, presented their view to solarize the Patna roof space.
"Solar energy is the future and no city can grow without implementing it in letter and spirit," said Sinha. "The city of Patna has the opportunity of establishing itself again and bringing pride to its glorious past by adopting and becoming one of the leaders in providing energy security to its people through solar power."
http://www.bridgetoindia.com/our-reports/indian-solar-policy-briefs/
