Work on construction of a Solar Park by Tiruchi Corporation near Panchapur sewage treatment plant (STP)has picked up pace.
The project with an allocation of ₹13.5-crore under Smart City Mission was mooted in October 2018 to harness solar power to meet the requirement of the city’s power needs.
The preliminary work, including clearance of 13.05 acres of land, levelling and fencing of the land identified for installing solar panels under the green energy generation project, began last year.
The work is now picking up pace and will be completed in a couple of months, a senior civic official said.
After the location was identified, officials from the non-conventional energy sources wing of TNEB gave approval after inspection.
A Chennai-based contractor has been roped in for the project. The power generated from the park will be routed to the nearest sub-station, a corporation official said. “We have received clearance from TNEB and will be installing breakers to feed power to the nearest substation. In return, TNEB will deduct an equivalent amount from the Corporation’s electricity bill.”
Construction of pillars and mounting of sections is under way and the solar panels will be installed within a few weeks, the official said.
Additional features such as security cabin, restroom, and power room will be built. “The ground work will be completed soon and after necessary tests from TNEB, it will become functional,” he added.
The civic body is also undertaking a rooftop solar power project in its buildings. As many as 206 structures have been identified for installation of solar power panels at a cost of ₹6.44 crore. Work to set up modules has begun.
“Civil work has been completed in nearly 162 buildings and work on mounting the panels are in progress. Soon, these buildings will have solar power,” said S. Amudhavalli, City Engineer, Tiruchi Corporation.
Tiruchi Corporation spends nearly ₹1.35 crore a year for consuming nearly 17.15 lakh kWh power per year.
