Greentech Lead India: The Government of India is
implementing a project to minimize dependence on diesel in the Ladakh region
and meet power requirement through local renewable sources.
The project entitled, ‘Ladakh Renewable Energy
Initiative’ is expected to meet power requirements through small / micro hydel
and solar photovoltaic power projects /systems and use solar thermal systems
for water heating / space heating / cooking requirements, Minister of New and
Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah said.
The project envisages setting up of solar power plants in
70 villages and 120 institutions and distribution of solar systems in the
region. The project also aims at setting up of 30 small/ mini hydel projects
with an aggregate capacity of 23.8 MW. The project is under implementation
since 1st June, 2010.
The Minister also announced that under the Remote Village
Electrification (RVE) Programme, which was approved up to 31st March 2012,
proposals were received from the State identified implementing agencies
including Madhya Pradesh for financial support for creation of facilities for
lighting/basic electricity through renewable energy sources in those remote
unelectrified census villages and unelectrified hamlets of electrified census
villages where grid extension was not found feasible by the State Governments
and hence were not covered under the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojna.
Such proposals were sanctioned once they were complete in
all respects and were in conformity with the provisions of the RVE programme.
Support had been provided for coverage of 623 remote villages in Madhya Pradesh
under the programme, the minister said.
Under the Programme, Central Financial Assistance of up to 90 percent of the
costs of systems, subject to pre specified maximum amount for each technology,
was provided for approved projects to the states. State-wise details of funds
released to various states under the programme during the last three years and
current year are given in Table-I. The programme was approved up to 31st March
2012, he added.
The government has also signed a MoU between Solar
Energy Centre (SEC) and Delhi Technology University (DTU) for collaborative
research through joint supervision of M. Tech and Ph.D practical courses at SEC
for DTU student in specialized areas of solar energy, joint refresher courses
for the industry and organizing conferences symposium & workshop on cutting
edge renewable energy technologies.