MYSURU: This year, Dasara illumination is going green, and will be a great power-saver. It will be powered largely by renewable energy sources. The lighting, one of the biggest attractions of the festival, often consumes a large amount of electricity. According to sources in the Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC), the illuminations and other Dasara attractions will be powered by over 538 MW from renewable sources, with 238 MW of power coming from solar-based sources and 300 MW from wind-based power generation units.
And the highlight will be the CESC lighting up a total of 39.05 km across 21 roads and 27 junctions along with a total of seven illuminated insignias. The road leading to Chamundi Hills will also be illuminated this year. The authorities are also including multi-coloured RGB LEDs this time. The illuminations will be launched on October 10 with a trial on October 5.
According to official estimates, a total of over 1.003 MW will be required to power this year’s illumination alone, but they are not worried about any shortage or power deficit. “Last year, we faced issues because we were dependent on Raichur Thermal Power Plant for power, which could not deliver much due to the shortage of coal.
However, this time, we are getting power from the renewable sources without any interruption,” said Sridhar Naik, assistant executive engineer at CESC.Illumination guzzles a lot of power. Last year’s illumination covering just 20 km alone consumed 0.968 MW. Prior to 2013, the consumption of power was close to 2.62 MW with incandescent lamps being used for illumination.
However, after the introduction of LED lights in 2013, the power requirement came down. CESC officials have also banned the use of incandescent lights strictly this year to check power consumption.