Discussions will be held with Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) to start a pilot project in which farmers can install solar-powered irrigation pump (IP) sets and also sell any excess power by connecting to the grid, D.K. Shivakumar, Minister for Energy, has said.
He was speaking after inaugurating ‘Bescom’s Top 100 HT Consumer Meet – 2015’, organised for high tension power consumers of Bescom here on Wednesday. He said the government was considering allotting solar-powered pump sets to the tune of 300 MW if the pilot project becomes successful.
From among renewable energy sources, using solar energy could be viable as there were challenges in exploiting other sources of energy on the grounds of safeguarding the environment.
Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Managing Director, Bescom, said a project to improve distribution of power in Bengaluru (it will be funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency) would be commissioned by the year-end. After completion, it will reduce power interruptions as the system would automatically detect and resolve a fault in any section of power distribution. At present, faults were being handled manually by linesmen.
S. Sumanth, Director (Transmission), KPTCL, said a project to strengthen the transmission network in Bengaluru, at a cost of Rs. 1,720 crore, had been sanctioned. It would be completed in two or three years. The project would involve setting up of more high tension power lines and sub-stations, which would help remove the constraints in the transmission network because of which load-shedding is to be done in some parts of Bengaluru.
