HYDERABAD: The plans of the State government’s energy conservation initiatives and renewable energy programmes on tapping green power have been bearing fruits with installed capacity of solar power increasing by 30 times in past six years.
The installed capacity of solar power in 2016 was 120 megawatts (MW), and it rose to 3,900 MW this year as the efforts to conserve energy in the implementation of renewable energy grew brighter. According to the Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation Limited (TSREDCO), which is the State-designated agency for implementing all renewable energy programmes, there has been a huge demand for solar power particularly.
At present, the total renewable energy installed in the State is 4,400 MW, of which 3,900 MW is solar power, while the remaining energy is tapped through sources such as wing energy, biomass energy, biogas, industrial waste to energy and mini-hydel projects. N Janaiah, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, TSREDCO, said that their objective was to popularise renewable energy projects in consultation with State and Central governments. “There will be more consumers for solar power in the coming years and we would attract them by providing incentives,” he said.
TSREDCO officials said that the generation capacity through renewable energy is 16,900 MW and demand goes up to 13,000 MW during summers. Out of 3,900 MW installed capacity of solar power, 3,700 MW is by ground-mounted solar structures and around 200 MW by solar-rooftop panels. This 200 MW solar rooftop panel is mostly installed atop residential buildings being utilised by 10,167 consumers in the State, and from GHMC limits alone, there are 7,863 consumers.The Telangana Solar Power Policy 2015 was launched by giving suitable incentives and benefits to the developers to encourage solar power generation.