The Kerala State Electricity Board has floated tenders for procuring 12 lakh meters to replace the defective meters in the State, Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed has said.
Mr. Mohammed told mediapersons here on Tuesday that while going ahead with energy conservation initiatives, the State had shifted its focus to non-conventional energy sources too. This was because of the realisation that the State could not completely depend on water sources for power generation. Decision had been taken to generate 2.25 MW of power from wind at Kanjikode, 14.25 MW at Ramakkalmedu, and 17.40 MW at Agali.
ANERT had started implementing a project for setting up 10,000 rooftop solar plants of 1 KW capacity each. A 1 KW panel could generate 3.5 to 4 units per day. The target was to set up 25,000 rooftop panels in the current financial year. An Expression of Interest would be invoked soon to set up rooftop panels in government offices and other buildings for generating 100 MW. The plan was to generate 500 MW solar energy a year.
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The government had signed an MoU with the National Thermal Power Corporation for setting up a 200 MW wind energy unit Ramakkalmedu and steps were being taken for setting up a unit at Kanjikode for generating 22 MW in association with Innox Renewable Energy Ltd.
The Cochin Refineries Ltd. was embarking on a Rs.20,000-crore expansion plan by 2015. Mr. Mohammed said that the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) was incurring a daily loss of Rs.3.09 crore. It had been decided to buy 500 new buses this year.