TN colleges evince interest in wind, solar hybrid systems

The Tamil Nadu Government's campaign for getting the 1,000-odd engineering colleges to put up wind-solar hybrid power plants in their campuses seems to have paid off, as a large number of colleges have evinced interest in the scheme.


Last month, the Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency (TEDA) held seminars in ten cities in the State to sensitise the engineering colleges to avail themselves of a Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) scheme to put up wind-solar hybrid power plants.


Under the scheme, MNRE would reimburse 75 per cent of the costs in the case of government offices, trusts, educational institutions and not for profit institutions, and 50 per cent for for-profit organisations. ‘Wind' will have to account for at least 60 per cent of the generation capacity.


Sources in the government say that as many as 532 colleges in the state attended the conference. So far, some 50 of them have shown interest in formally applied to TEDA. Sources in the know are confident that more applications would come.


The biggest proposal received so far is from the B S Abdur Rahman University, which wants to put up the systems in eight of its colleges. At 50 kw a piece, this works out to 400 kw. Chennai-based Stella Maris college, Cape Institution of Technology which is located in the Kanyakumari and Nagercoil in the Tirunelveli district, SIRI PSG Arts and Science College at Sankari in Salem district, Sree Sowdambiga College of Engineering and KCC College of Technology and SDNB Vaishnava College for Women are among those who have shown interest in putting up 50 kw systems.


The Tamil Nadu Government officials expect more applications to come in the next couple of weeks. It is understood that the Tamil Nadu government has got in touch with MNRE, which has promised that it would process all the applications that reach it before January 31, before the end of March.

Sources say that a kw of capacity would cost around Rs 2 lakh, and would generate 5 units daily on an average. Tamil Nadu government officials have pointed out to the colleges that the 25 per cent of the cost of wind-solar hybrid systems that they would be incurring, ought to be seen as an expenditure in creating teaching infrastructure. Today, there is a big shortage of skills in the renewable energy industry and students who get exposed to such the power plants will have an edge in the job market. Over time, colleges will be building curricula around renewable energy and when they do that, the generating systems that they have, will become laboratories for training students.