“Saur Kauthig” to be held to popularise solar energy harnessing in Uttarakhand
“Saur Kauthig” to be held to popularise solar energy harnessing in Uttarakhand
Dehradun , Dec 13
Uttarakhand state is going to organise its first Solar energy fair entitled “Saur Kauthig” on December 16 and 17, 2024 at Rangers College ground in Dehradun to showcase its’ endeavour in tapping non fossil fuel energy and other renewable energy sources in the state. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar singh Dhami will inaugurate the “Saur Kauthig” and launch a solar van for awareness besides a mural art exhibition.
Through “Saur Kauthig” Uttarakhand state government would encourage, motivate and educate general masses in adopting roof top solar systems which is found to be most suitable for the state since due to its’ geographical conditions utility scale solar energy tapping is not possible. The state government under its Solar Energy policy in 2023 has given a target of generating 1400 megawatt of solar power from the state. It has been planned to generate 250 Megawatt from residential roof top, 750 Mega watt from commercial and industrial units, and 50 Mega watt from agriculture sector. It has also been planned to make 300 villages of the state completely dependent on Solar energy.
The state government is providing extra subsidy on the Prime Minister Surya Roof top scheme. On 3 kilowatt roof top solar energy panels, central government is giving a subsidy of Rs. 85,800 while state government is giving a subsidy of Rs.51,000. The state government has now permitted a total of 365 vendors in order to increase the speed of rooftop solar installations in the state. The net metering of solar energy installations have been simplified and all those units below 10 kilowatt have been exempted from technical surveys.
During the two day “Saur Kauthig” all the stake holders will be under one roof to educate the masses about the benefits of harnessing solar energy through roof top solar installation which would decrease their power bills drastically. The people would be provided all the information about availing PM Surya scheme which has set a target of one crore homes using roof top solar installations in the coming years. The people would be encouraged to register themselves for availing the facilities of Solar roof top installations and getting bank loans if required at the ‘Saur Kauthig’.
In the past seven months, already solar capacity worth 23 Mega watt has been established in the state. As per an estimate of Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), Uttarakhand has a capacity to install one Giga watt of solar energy. The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) is a knowledge partner of the “Saur Kauthig”.
