Jharkhand eyes 4,000 MW solar power capacity in 5 yrs: CM Hemant Soren

Jharkhand aims to achieve a capacity of 4000 MW of solar power in the next five years and is open to attracting investors in the space with lucrative offers, Chief Minister Hemant Soren said on Tuesday.

Soren launched the Solar Energy Policy 2022 on Tuesday and laid the foundation stone in the virtual mode for 600 KW capacity solar plant at Dhanbad and Dumka airports and a grid-connected rooftop power plant for domestic consumers under the Giridih Solar City Scheme.

Under the new policy, the generation of 4000 MW of solar energy is scheduled from 2022-2023 to 2026-27, he said.

The policy also seeks to create jobs, growth opportunities and sustainability in Jharkhand, which currently generates less than 45 MW of solar energy, he said.

Jharkhand has potential for solar energy as it has around 300 days of clear sun with high solar insolation.

The policy entails a dedicated solar power cell, statutory approval within a maximum of 60 days, setting up of 1000 solar villages, schemes to encourage economically backward villagers to adopt solar energy and cross subsidy for it, the chief minister said.

Soren also launched a web portal for Kisan Solar Water Pump Set scheme which will simplify the process of distribution and installation of solar pumps for farmers. The portal will also provide aid in the pump scheme for the next five years.

Under the new policy the government will give subsidy of up to 80 per cent of the total installation cost will be given to people living in cities having an annual income of less than Rs 3 lakh for rooftop solar panels, he said.

Jharkhand had notified its first Solar Power Policy in August 2015 with a target to generate 2,650 MW of solar energy by 2020. It also launched ‘Jharkhand Solar Rooftop Policy, 2018’ to promote rooftop solar installations.

However, both initiatives had failed to attract private investors due to reasons like land and incentive issues.

In order to sort out the issues, Jharkhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (JREDA) has partnered with the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, a leading not-for-profit policy research institute, for drafting the new policy.

According to the policy, there are three broad project categories - utility scale solar, distributed solar and off-grid solar – with different target generations and envisions solar plants to be installed on government and private lands and water bodies including dams and canals.

Jharkhand has 31 reservoirs with a cumulative surface area of 354 sq km, indicating a conservative potential of 1160 MW.

Altogether 1000 model solar villages would be set up to ensure complete solarisation of various consumptive and productive loads, he said.

To promote rooftop solar projects in cities, the policy proposes 60 per cent subsidy, which also includes a central subsidy, for installation of up to 3 kw power plant and an 80 per cent subsidy for installation of 3 kw to 10 kw plants.

The policy also proposed a dedicated Solar Policy Cell to be created under JREDA.

All statutory clearances and approvals will be provided to the solar power project developers through this single window facility in a time-bound manner within 60 days.

As regards, solar pumps 96 per cent subsidy is being provided to the farmers for off-grid pump sets. So far in the first phase 6717 solar pump sets have been installed in the entire state, out of which 6500 solar pump sets have been installed across the state from 2020 to 2022, as per the state government.

Jharkhand ranks fifth in the country in installing solar pump sets, as per the government that has set an ambitious target of installing 10,000 solar pump sets in the second phase.