East civic body will install solar panels on 351 of its buildings

NEW DELHI: To become partially self-reliant in terms of power generation, the cash-strapped East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) will install solar panels at rooftop of its 351 buildings. The move is likely to help to reduce its power bill by 50%.

Once the project starts functioning, the civic body’s electricity bill reduce will reduce by ₹4-5 per unit. At present, a power unit costs the EDMC ₹8-10. The decision assumes significance as the EDMC is facing acute financial crunch and faces difficulty to clear salary dues of its employees.

A senior official of the agency said the list of structures includes 240 schools, 70 community halls and 41 health centres.

The project is being implemented as per the guidelines by Union ministry of new and renewable energy and under the Delhi Solar Policy notified by Delhi Government in September 2016. “Installing solar panels in schools will help reduce our electricity bills by ₹4-5 per unit. We will opt for net metering system in which any extra solar power generated will be sold to the national grid,” said Ranbir Singh, commissioner, EDMC.

The project will be implemented either through Capex model, where the concerned department (of the corporation) will bear the entire cost on its own or Resco model, in which the EDMC may rope in a developer (contractor). “The contractor will build the system, maintain, provide services for 25 years, if we choose to hire a private contractor,” said the official.

“The process for identifying the bidder for 351 buildings sites will start after we get approval from the standing committee to be held on Friday. Later, the proposal would be brought before the House for the final approval,” said the official.

The civic body has already successfully implemented similar solar power generation set up at Swami Dayanand Hospital and Shahdara North zonal building.