BHOPAL: It’s tough for a town famous for something built in 3rd century BCE to make a very 21st century statement — but that’s what Sanchi in MP has managed.
Home to the stupa built during emperor Ashoka’s reign, this town of 9,000 people is on the way to becoming India’s first ‘solar city’.
A 3 MW solar plant, which is for household and commercial needs, is fully operational and another plant of 5 MW capacity — to meet agriculture-related requirements — is being built.
Sanchi sits on the Tropic of Cancer and is, therefore, ideally located to harness solar power. But that geographical advantage would have come to nought had it not been supplemented by some nifty engineering.
The 3 MW plant has been built close to the Unesco World Heritage site on a 5-hectare land. The solar panels though presented an engineering challenge — they are wrapped around the slopes of a hill. This cone-like structure, says superintending engineer of MP Urja Vikas Nigam, Srikant Deshmukh, is unique among solar power plants as of now.
The other marvel, in a country where green energy is very much a sarkari funds-driven effort, is that Sanchi is going solar without any direct government funding.
Narmada Hydroelectric Development Corporation — a JV between MP government and NHPC — is the project developer. It will sell the power at Rs 3.6 per unit to MP Power Management Company Ltd — the holding company of three discoms of the state. All end use equipment like solar lights have been purchased with CSR funds of public private companies.
There’s more to do in Sanchi, aside from completing the 5 MW plant. Every household will be provided with low-energy-consumption fans and lights. Around 2,000 students will be provided with solar lights, and street vendors will be given solar lanterns. Streetlights will be solar, same for the municipality’s water pumps.
But sooner rather than later, officials say, only the sun will power Sanchi.
Home to the stupa built during emperor Ashoka’s reign, this town of 9,000 people is on the way to becoming India’s first ‘solar city’.
A 3 MW solar plant, which is for household and commercial needs, is fully operational and another plant of 5 MW capacity — to meet agriculture-related requirements — is being built.
Sanchi sits on the Tropic of Cancer and is, therefore, ideally located to harness solar power. But that geographical advantage would have come to nought had it not been supplemented by some nifty engineering.
The 3 MW plant has been built close to the Unesco World Heritage site on a 5-hectare land. The solar panels though presented an engineering challenge — they are wrapped around the slopes of a hill. This cone-like structure, says superintending engineer of MP Urja Vikas Nigam, Srikant Deshmukh, is unique among solar power plants as of now.
The other marvel, in a country where green energy is very much a sarkari funds-driven effort, is that Sanchi is going solar without any direct government funding.
Narmada Hydroelectric Development Corporation — a JV between MP government and NHPC — is the project developer. It will sell the power at Rs 3.6 per unit to MP Power Management Company Ltd — the holding company of three discoms of the state. All end use equipment like solar lights have been purchased with CSR funds of public private companies.
There’s more to do in Sanchi, aside from completing the 5 MW plant. Every household will be provided with low-energy-consumption fans and lights. Around 2,000 students will be provided with solar lights, and street vendors will be given solar lanterns. Streetlights will be solar, same for the municipality’s water pumps.
But sooner rather than later, officials say, only the sun will power Sanchi.