Renewable Energy Sources to Replace Diesel-based Power
TERI Submits Feasibility Report
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has completed a feasibility study
of 6 Islands - North Andaman, Middle Andaman,
South Andaman, Little Andaman, Baratang and Car Nicobar to explore the
possibility of shifting from Diesel based power generation to sustainable and
economically feasible renewable energy sources.
A
presentation was given to the Lt. Governor on 28th November’2014 on the
feasibility study report by Sr. Fellow Ujjwal Bhattacharjee of TERI in presence
of senior officers of Administration and engineers of Electricity Department.
On the
direction of Lieutenant Governor, the Electricity Department had engaged The
Energy & Resources Institute (TERI) to conduct a feasibility study in two
phases to explore the potential in 6 Islands of A&N to phase out diesel
based power supply.
According
to the Feasibility Study Report, North Andaman can meet its 100% energy
requirements from renewable sources i.e. from the existing hydro plant and
further supported by rooftop and ground mounted Solar power plants.
In South
Andaman, Port Blair alone has a potential of at least 3 MW Rooftop Solar Power
by utilizing the roofs of existing commercial and government buildings. There
is reasonable wind power potential in Collinpur, South Andaman but the existing
road which is very narrow and has sharp bends will be a bottleneck for shifting
the wind turbine blades to the site. A separate study has to be made after
receipt of the exact size of turbine blades for shifting of wind turbine to the
site through the existing road.
In the
existing 5 MW Solar Power Plant at Garacharma, a 3 MW energy storage for 1 Hour
at a cost of Rs. 6-10 Crores can arrest the present intermittency problem in
the Solar power output due to cloud passage.
Car Nicobar
has the potential for a 2.4 MW biomass power plant which will save about 2500
KL diesel worth Rs. 15 Crores annually.
A total of
8 MW Rooftop Solar Power can be established on the roofs of existing commercial
and government buildings in these six islands. The investment required will be
about Rs. 80 Crores and by which we will save at least 6000 Kilo Liters of
diesel worth Rs. 40 Crores annually. The investment in biomass and solar power
plants will be paid back in two years.
After the presentation the Lt. Governor directed both Electricity
Department and TERI to prepare an actionable plan for phase-wise
implementation/execution of the findings of feasibility study report.
Ujjwal Bhattacharjee further informed that a team of Sr. Scientists of TERI
will conduct a workshop in the 2nd week of December to educate the engineers of
Electricity Department about exploitation of renewable energy for replacement
diesel based power generation.
Lieutenant Governor
has directed TERI to invite the media to attend this workshop for wider
dissemination about renewable energy prospects for A&N Islands
