9.3.18

Diu becomes first UT to run 100% on solar power

Diu, a major tourist destination, has become the country’s first and only solar-energy-efficient Union Territory, showing an effective way to people to harness this renewable energy source. In just three years, Diu has made rapid progress in solar power generation. Limited to an area of just 42 square kilometres, more than 100% of Diu’s electricity demand is being met by solar power. Despite scarcity of land, solar power plants have been installed over more than 50 acres.

Diu generates a total of 13 MW of electricity from solar power generating facilities daily. Around 3MW is generated by rooftop solar plants and 10 MW by its other solar power plants.

Three years ago, the people of Diu consumed electricity supplied from the power grid owned by the Gujarat government, resulting in huge line losses. Once the local power company started generating electricity from solar energy, the electricity loss was significantly reduced.

Daman and Diu electricity department executive engineer Milind Ingle said, “The population of Diu is only 56,000. For water and electricity, the UT was solely dependent on the Gujarat government. To overcome this limitation, the administration of the UT decided to set up solar power plants in Diu.”

Ingle said, “Diu’s peak-time demand for electricity goes up to 7MW and we generate about 10.5MW of electricity from solar energy daily. This is way more than the consumption demand requirement.”

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