Saurabh Bhagat inaugurates week long mega solar expo in Jammu

Says event will immensely help towards promoting benefits of rooftop solar power plants

JAMMU, February 24: Commissioner Secretary, Science and Technology, Saurabh Bhagat, today inaugurated a week long mega Solar Expo at Rail Head, Bahu Plaza here.

The expo being held from February 24 to March 2, 2023, is being organized by J&K Energy Development Agency (JAKEDA) in collaboration with multiple vendors of RE industry and other line departments of Jammu and Kashmir (UT).

On the occasion, Commissioner Secretary inspected the stalls established by various vendors and also interacted with them regarding their solar equipments and services.

He advised JAKEDA to procure such devices for display in the Science Centers being established by S&T department.

Saurabh Bhagat appreciated JAKEDA for organizing the expo saying that the initiative will immensely help in raising awareness among the people about the benefits of rooftop solar plants.

He reaffirmed that the UT government is committed to provide all support to vendors and the people while asking people to get maximum benefit from the scheme.

He asked JAKEDA to organize more such awareness camps and expos across other areas of Jammu city so that people would know about rooftop solar plant and its financing pattern and scheme.

Commissioner Secretary also apprised of various benefits being extended by the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Government of Jammu and Kashmir under Grid Connected Rooftop Solar (GCRT-SPV) and PM-KUSUM schemes.

He informed that under GCRT-SPV, which entails a collective subsidy of 65 per cent, the Domestic Consumers of DISCOM’s can offset their monthly electricity bills under Net-Metering mechanism and under PM-KUSUM scheme which is primarily meant for upliftment of farmers. The farmers can install subsidized Solar  Powered Pumps upto 10 HP capacity, for irrigation of their farmlands with a choice of AC/DC surface and submersible pumps.

He added that the project is also expected to provide employment opportunities to around ten thousand youth of Jammu and Kashmir.

The inaugural event was attended bybPankaj Mangotra, Vice Chairman, Jammu Development Authority (JDA),  Dr. P R Dhar, CEO JAKEDA, officers from Horticulture Department, Agriculture Department, Engineers from  Jammu Power Development Corporation (JPDCL) and other dignitaries.

Earlier, Chief Executive Officer JAKEDA, Dr PR Dhar, spoke about the benefits of the scheme.

He informed that Jammu city has been declared as solar city in J&K and rooftop solar plants with installation capacity of 200 MV would be installed under the “Solar City Mission” in Jammu.

Under phase II of Government of India’s rooftop solar scheme, domestic electricity consumers  across the UT can install rooftop solar power plants at subsidized rates from 1-10 KW capacity.

Under the project, 200 MW grid-tied rooftop solar power plants will be installed on 50,000 residential buildings in Jammu city by the Jammu and Kashmir Energy Development Agency (JAKEDA) under its Solar City Mission, he added.

In the Expo, around 29 exhibitors from across the country have displayed their RE products/technologies. The J&K Bank, Punjab National Bank and the Agriculture Department also participating in the event to showcase their customer friendly schemes and programmes.

Broadly, the Jammu Solar Expo will allow showcasing Solar PV products to the prospective consumers and information related to the advantages of the two Solar based schemes i.e. Grid Connected Rooftop Solar Power Plant and Solar Pumps (PM-KUSUM) being presently implemented in the UT by JAKEDA wherein targets of 200 MW cumulative capacity and 10000 numbers, have been respectively allocated to JAKEDA. Both the schemes have been heavily incentivized by the Ministry as well as the J&K UT in order to make it viable for common masses.

Predominantly, the Expo is geared towards the expanding Rooftop Solar  and utility-scale PV technologies besides accommodating emerging trends in various grid connected technologies.

The main focus is towards transition to a clean energy based economy since the technological breakthroughs in RE sector have brought down the cost of energy generation to record lows, along with favorable policy and regulatory environments. The event is aimed to bring together industry professionals in community solar project development and tackling the opportunities in the field.