THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thanks to the land survey issues along the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, a Green Book project aimed at lighting up far-flung tribal villages using hybrid, micro-grid power units has failed to take off. Under the plan, the Chathurangapara village in Udumbanchola taluk of Idukki was to be lit up using small windmills and solar panels. The hybrid project was designed to have a total installed capacity of 1.3 megawatts (MW) with 800 kW wind power and 500 kW solar power. The government had earmarked `9.7 crore for the Green Book project list for implementation in 2016-17. However, the project still remains on paper, courtesy of land survey issues. Technical issues in surveying the revenue land along the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border prevented the government from handing over the 15 acres to the KSEB, the Power Department informed the Assembly last week.
This has prevented the state government-run power company from taking the project forward. The ‘Green Book’ and the ‘Amber Book’ were announced as part of the 2016 budget for fast-tracking the various projects and schemes. Under the total electrification scheme, the KSEB had announced certain remote areas, especially, the tribal villages in the forests which could not be provided power connectivity using conventional overhead power lines. In remote hamlets where stringing of power lines is physically impossible, the department resorted to solar plants. As many as 1,600 homes in 22 tribal villages were electrified with the help of Energy Management Centre (EMC) and the Agency for Non-conventional Energy and Rural Technology (ANERT), the Power Department’s agencies.
The objective of the Green Book is to expedite the implementation of schemes at the beginning of the financial year(FY) without waiting for formal administrative sanction. As part of promoting solar- wind hybrid projects, the KSEB has announced a number of projects across the state. These include a 1 MW micro wind power project at Poovar in Thiruvananthapuram which will the see the KSEB setting up 50 small windmills.
The Green Book project
The project was aimed at lighting up far-flung tribal villages using hybrid, micro-grid power units. I9.7 crore set aside
Technical issues in surveying the revenue land along the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border prevented the government from handing over the 15 acres to the KSEB stalling the project