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.
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Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Managing Director, Bescom, said a project to improve distribution of power in Bengaluru would be commissioned by the year-end.