As per the project, the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. (KPTCL) and local distribution companies will allow to use existing village grids as per feasibility or provide new grids, if necessary, for the projects. Firstly, the project will have a concession period of ten years.
The solar power generated from these plants can also be available at a charging station, enabling residents to charge their electrical appliances. The power will be offered for street-lights, household consumption, entertainment/educational purposes, water-lifting for irrigation, drinking water supply, purification/desalination plants, deflourination, milk pasteurization and local cottage industrial applications. The solar power will be metered and offered at a fee determined in advance.
Most of the targetted villages either have no electric supply or get poor voltage at present, said KREDL, MD H G Shivanandamurthy.
We will play the role of facilitator in the project. Our interest is to see that the people get power at the lowest cost, added Shivanandamurthy.
KREDL will act as the facilitator along with the respective electricity supply companies in village clusters. Department of Rural Development and Panchayatiraj will coordinate KREDL. Both the Panchayatiraj institutions and Karnataka government will stand guarantee for the user fee collection.
The contract finalization and award of the project is scheduled for August 24, 2009. The energy requirement in these 3,900 villages is estimated to be around 16MW, said KREDL officials.
