Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) Commissioner G. Veerapandian said that domestic sector in the city consumed 58.36 per cent of power, petrol, diesel, kerosene, LPG and CNG and there was a need to reduce the consumption to 48 per cent in the next five years through use of alternative sources of energy.
A study was conducted to prepare a solar energy master plan in 2010. During the study, it was found that domestic sector consumes 56,836 kilolitres of petrol, 54,200 kilolitres of diesel, 3,618 kilolitres of kerosene, 42,700 metric tonnes of LPG and 26,600 metric tonnes of CNG.
Cumulatively, this works out to 58.36 per cent of the total consumption which is followed by commercial sector which consumed 39.4 per cent and industry 1.5 per cent, he said addressing a seminar on “Developing Vijayawada as a solar city” here on Monday. Builders, resident welfare associations, commercial complex owners and others were invited to the seminar for creating awareness on benefits of using solar energy.
He said VMC was working on installing five solar power packs of 100 KW each at VMC Head Office, Council Hall, Head Water Works, Ajitsinghnagar Sewerage Treatment Plant and Ramalingeswarnagar Sewerage Treatment Plant with a total expenditure of Rs. 5 crore.
Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI) Director T. Harinarayana said that Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States were power deficit and Gujarat was generating 3,000 MW excess power every year.
By 2024, the conventional power requirement in the country would increase to 603 GW and there was a need to focus on generation and use of alternative source of energy.
The Gujarat government was taking up different initiatives like installing solar power panels on the 184-km Ahmedabad-Rajkot National Highway to generate 104 MW of solar energy, he explained.
Both central and state governments offer lot of subsidies for industry and residential sectors to promote use of solar energy.
