Tamil Nadu is expected to have 20,000 solar energy installations under the Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (Kusum) scheme by the end of the current financial year, said Vikram Kapur, chairman and managing director, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco).
Mr. Kapur told presspersons that the Centre recently issued guidelines for the scheme and a notification would be issued shortly inviting farmers to participate in the programme.
Under the scheme, farmers can install a solar power system and supply excess power to the grid. “Farmers will get subsidy from the Central government for installing solar panels. The average capacity of each installation will be 10 kw. Farmers who will be producer-consumers will be identified and linked to the local sub-station,” he said. The scheme will be implemented jointly by Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA) and Tangedco. The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC) will work out the tariff for this.
Bidding process
Tamil Nadu has nearly 9,000 MW installed capacity of wind energy and close to 3,000 MW of solar energy. “The plan is to triple the solar energy capacity. About 1,500 MW of solar energy is expected to be installed through the bidding process. Efforts are on to increase rooftop installations,” he said.
The TEDA has sent a proposal to the State government seeking amendment to the Solar Energy Policy 2019 so that High Tension (HT) consumers can instal rooftop solar panels under net feed in the system.
“The industry is of the view that the current feed in tariff is too low. This is also likely to be taken up with the regulator,” he said.
Regarding payments to the renewable energy producers who supply to the grid, Mr. Kapur said the State was making payments but has to pay the arrears. “We are definitely far behind in payments to renewables. We have requested the Central government for some financial assistance,” he said.
