VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation office will be turned into 100 per cent solar-powered government building within a couple of months. In fact, the VMC initiated a project with a capacity of 200 kilowatts per hour which would meet about 95 per cent needs of the building.
If it could generate 20 kilowatts per hour, then the electricity needs of the office could be met through the solar power, technicians observed. Now the VMC decided to meet the remaining power needs also through the solar power generation, stated the officials.
In fact, at the VMC office the consumption of electricity is roughly 24,000 to 25,000 units per month at an average. To meet the demand, there are two ways in front of the corporation, including either to increase the capacity of the solar power generation or to implement the energy-efficient methods. The VMC has been considering the second option and decided to reduce the power consumption by plugging the loopholes in utilisation of electricity.
VMC commissioner G. Veerapandian directed chief engineer M.A. Shukoor to convert the corporation bui-lding into complete solar-powered building by utilising the existing resources. Mr Shukoor stated that they are installing solar panels on both the main office and the Council Hall. The VMC gave the project to a private organisation PPS Evriro Power Pvt. Ltd to install, maintain and transfer solar power.
Vijayawada to be a solar city: The installation of solar panels at five select places in Vijayawada city will be completed by this month-end. Generation of the power will commence in the second or third week of February. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation has been working to convert the city into a Solar City. In that process, this is the first step. The VMC, through the PPS Evriro Power Pvt. Ltd, has undertaken the installation of solar systems with an estimated power generation capacity of 500 kilowatts per hour.
Two stations at VMC office, two at underground drainage treatment plant and the remaining one at Water House each having 100 kilowatt capacity are being installed. The company has to invest every single rupee of the project and after completion of the project the central government would release 30 per cent share as subsidy under Solar Power Policy. VMC commissioner G. Veerapandian directed the officials to ensure that the work is completed as early as possible.
