World Famous Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary Will Implement Solar Power Soon

Some more positive developments on the Solar Power front in Rajasthan! This effort will surely help Rajasthan rise up the popularity charts with environmentalists riding on the popularity of the World famous Keoladeo bird sanctuary, Bharatpur - just a few hours away from the capital city of Jaipur.

The Keoladeo bird sanctuary in Bharatpur would soon be contributing to conservation in more ways than one. Apart from being one of the finest birding areas, the sanctuary would soon go solar. It will be one of its only kind of park to be completely free from conventional energy sources.

According to R N Mehrotra, principal chief conservator of forest and head of forest forces, Rajasthan, "Work is on at the sanctuary to make it go solar. All sources using conventional energy would be replaced with those dependent on solar energy."

This would not only include lighting but air-conditioners in offices and guest houses. "The move will help us reduce carbon footprints. We will not be using any planetary energy source eventually. The project, in collaboration with the Centre, will be implemented by the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited (RRECL). Work has already begun and is expected to be completed within a year," he added.

News source: Times of India

Solar Energy News - Jaipur Rajasthan

Over the years, Rajasthan has been witnessing increasing interest in Solar Energy Solutions for a self-sustaining state. Government has been providing awareness as well as programs to increase the adoption of Solar Solutions through out the state. In similar endeavor, a 2 day state level conference on power and energy systems was held in Rajasthan Technical University on Saturday.

Excerpts : Source TOI

The state will become self-sufficient in power by 2013, said minister for energy and higher education Jitendra Singh. He was speaking at the inaugural of two-day state-level conference on Power and Energy Systems-2011 at Rajasthan Technical University on Saturday. "Our daily power requirement is 1,300 lakh unit against a generation of 1,150 lakh unit," said the minister.

The Union government's Jawahar Solar Mission scheme will help generate 1,000 MW of electricity from solar energy and it will end power-cut in the state. In this project, the state will generate upto 1,500 MW in 2013, 3,000 MW in 2017 and 20,000 MW in 2020.

Talking about the potential of solar energy in state, he said: "A 100 sq km of land in Jaisalmer can produce one lakh MW of power in 320 sunny days." He said that there are latest technology in which solar energy can be transmitted to grid via satellite. Harnessing power from solar energy is much more cost-effective than thermal power. Generating 500 MW of solar energy requires Rs 15 to 16 crore against over Rs 30 crore from thermal energy. The minister also said that super-critical power plants will come up in Suratgarh, Chhabra and Banswara. It will bring significant improvement in the power scenario and act as a boost for industrialisation in state.