The Government of Assam has started a detailed consultation on the draft Assam Renewable Energy Policy, 2022.
An interactive meeting on “Opportunities of Solar Power Plants in Tea Gardens and Tea Factories” was organized under the aegis of Tea Growers Associations – ABITA, ATPA, BCP and NETA at Guwahati Tea Auction Center (GTAC).
Rakesh Kumar, Managing Director, APDCL was present and addressed the gathering and urged the representatives of the tea industry to give suggestions on the ‘Draft Assam Renewable Energy Policy, 2022’. He appreciated the interactive meeting and said that the dialogue with the tea industry would continue.
The New and Renewable Energy (NRE) Wing of APDCL during its presentation elaborated on the various modes of execution of solar projects in the tea industry – Rooftop Solar Power Plant on CAPEX or RESCO mode, Solar Power Plant by leasing out unirrigated barren Establishment of tea land, captive solar power plant and solar park by leasing land to APDCL. APDCL has already issued vendor registration to 15 tea gardens for setting up of Rooftop Solar Power Plant.
Several solar companies have made presentations – Tata Power, KSL (official channel partner of Adani Power), Roofsol, FirstGreen and AVCO. Also, financial institutions SIDBI and PNB gave information about their financial plans for solar.
“Solar projects can be a game changer for the tea industry. We can use the barren land for solar power projects which can generate revenue to the tea companies. We also have a factory roof for installing solar panels. But the tea industry is seasonal in nature and hence the power consumption is not uniform throughout the year. There are some more issues and hence we will seek the guidance of the government to deal with those issues so that it is a win-win situation for the tea industry and the state.”, Bidanand Barkakoti, Advisor, North Eastern Tea Association (NETA)
Source: pen18.com
