Chief Minister Conrad Sangma today informed that people installing rooftop solar panels will have to do zero investment.
Speaking at the launch of the ‘Meghalaya Roof Top Solar Portal’ of the Meghalaya Energy Corporation Limited (MeECL) the Chief Minister said consumers will get 40 per cent subsidy from Ministry of New Renewable Energy (MNRE), 50 per cent from the vendor and 10 per cent from MePDCL.
“Consumers who install solar panels will pay 2 rupees lesser to MeECL as compared to 6 rupees per unit that they are paying right now. When the consumers are not using electricity from solar panels, they will earn 1 rupee per unit from MeECL. Consumers can apply for this scheme through the unified solar rooftop portal,” he said.
He also asserted that hydropower plants are not enough to meet the consumption needs of the State and generating power from other alternative sources is less than one percent therefore some of the quick ways to reduce power deficiency is to have efficient power system.
Stating that the State has a long way to go in generating energy from alternative sources, the Chief Minister said the State has the capacity and opportunity to harness solar energy and this is where solar projects like these are important. He also said that the State government looks forward to make this sector grow as much as possible. The State will benefit by using renewable energy and it will also help reduce CO2 emissions, he added.
Meghalaya received the highest sanction of funds from the Ministry of New Renewable Energy (MNRE) among all the Northeastern states with a sanctioned capacity of 70 MW (Megawatt) in the First Phase. Under this scheme, consumers will be able to rent their rooftops and sell excess electricity generated from solar system to local electricity utility. In this way, the ‘consumers’ will also become ‘prosumers’. This Scheme will benefit 23, 000 households with a maximum of 3 kilowatt per household. This programme also provides for NET Metering where power generated is first utilized by the consumers to meet their requirement and excess electricity is exposed to the grid.
The launch programme was attended by the Chairman-cum-Managing Director Arunkumar Kembhavi and other senior officials of the corporation.
