Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has installed rooftop solar projects with a total capacity of 17,705 kilowatts on 1,232 public buildings across the state, Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo said in the state assembly on Wednesday.
In a statement, Singh Deo said the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) has installed rooftop solar units with a total capacity of 8,317.69 KW on 825 government offices and with a combined capacity of 5,387 KW on 342 educational institutes across the state in the last five years.
The Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Ltd (GEDCOL) has installed solar plants on the rooftops of 65 government offices, educational institutions and hospital buildings in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, with a total installed capacity of 4000.55 KW, he said.
In another reply, Singh Deo, who is in charge of the Energy Department, informed that altogether 2,740 people of Odisha have benefitted from the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana (PMSG: MBY) and the central government assistance of Rs 13.75 crore has been distributed to the beneficiaries.
The state government has made a budgetary provision of Rs 1,800 crore for execution of the scheme for three financial years (2024-25 to 2026-27), he stated.
The total installed capacity of renewable energy in Odisha (contracted by GRIDCO), as of the last fiscal year, was 595 MW, excluding large hydroelectric projects.
The Energy Department has set a target of generating 10,960 MW from renewable energy sources by 2030, which will be around 57 per cent of the total energy mix, Singh Deo said.
The minister further informed that the state government has brought out the Odisha Renewable Energy Policy, 2022 (OREP, 2022), under which many incentives have been provided to promote the adoption of renewable energy by individuals, businesses and industries.
As per the nationally determined contribution submitted to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), India stands committed to reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 45 per cent by 2030, from the 2005 level and generating about 50 per cent of electricity from non-fossil (renewable) sources by 2030.
The target of the state Energy Department, i.e. about 57 per cent generation from renewable energy sources, clearly aligns with the state and the country’s climate goals, he added.
PTI