India To Solarise Sun-Temple Town Under Pilot Project

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in India will be undertaking deployment of a 6 MW ground mounted solar PV power plant along with a 15 MWh, 6 MW battery energy storage system (BESS) for the solarization of the sun-temple town of Modhera in Gujarat’s Mehsana district. The Indian President has given green light to the scheme.

Other components of the project include 271 x 1 kW rooftop solar PV systems and a 100 kW rooftop solar PV systems on government buildings and other smart energy components.

Through the scheme, the government wants to set up a pilot demonstration project for a village/town running completely on solar energy with all its domestic and agricultural electricity needs being fulfilled by solar power. A grant worth INR 650 million ($8.63 million) has been sanctioned for the pilot to be shelled out equally by the Government of India and the State Government of Gujarat. It will be valid for a period of 2 years, from FY 2019-20 and 2020-21.

The State Government of Gujarat will implement the scheme by selecting renewable energy developer through a single tender to set up all the above requisite components.

Solarisation of Modhera Sun-Temple Town is how the project has been christened and is hoped to develop the place into an energy-resilient village using clean and smart technologies. “The proposed solarization will demonstrate technologies intended to be deployed in the near future for a sustainable renewable energy ecosystem such as smart metering, grid-scale energy storage and demand response,” states the MNRE notice. “Proposed projects will showcase solar energy technologies, solar EV charging station, etc. to the tourists/visitors coming to Modhera and benefit local population through new employment opportunities.”