Bihar Advances Renewable Energy with Solar and Battery Storage Initiatives
On the occasion of Water-Life-Greenery Day, a discussion was organized on the topic of 'Promotion of solar energy use and energy saving' at Vidyut Bhawan in Patna. Addressing this discussion, Secretary of Energy Department and CMD of BSPHCL, Mr. Pankaj Kumar Pal said that we are moving rapidly towards the development of renewable energy apart from traditional fossil energy. Today, in Bihar, we are getting 23 percent of the total peak demand of 8005 MW from renewable energy. Our effort is to further increase our dependence on renewable energy.
Mr. Pal emphasized that our progress in the field of green energy has been very good in the last five years. Solar plants are being installed continuously in government and private buildings. So far, more than 100 MW of solar energy is being produced in more than 11 thousand government buildings. The concept of 'fish below and electricity above' has been successfully implemented. Under this, 1.6 MW solar energy is being produced in Darbhanga and 525 KW in Supaul. There is also a need to further develop this model on water harvesting done in various districts under Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Abhiyan. Continuous work is being done towards the development of solar energy, wind energy and water energy. The country's largest solar energy based battery storage system is being installed in Kajra, Lakhisarai. Its first phase will be completed in July 2025. A total of 301 MW and 495 MW battery energy storage system capacity is being built in Kajra. He informed that under the Chief Minister Solar Street Light Scheme in the state, 10 solar lights are being installed in every ward of every panchayat, in which more than 5.50 lakh solar street lights have been installed so far. Ground mounted solar plants, Energy Conservation Building Code, Eco Niwas Code are also important steps towards promoting renewable energy. Similarly, 40 MW of energy is being produced from bagasse in sugar mills.
Mr. Pal said that Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Abhiyan is the result of the farsighted thinking of Chief Minister Mr. Nitish Kumar. Its goal is to prevent the adverse effects on the environment due to climate change, establish environmental balance, promote energy efficiency, encourage the use of renewable energy and solar energy in place of fossil fuels. We are constantly moving forward towards achieving these goals.
Mr. Pankaj Kumar Pal further said that the most important thing is to make consumers aware of the right use of energy. It is often seen that people leave air conditioners and lights on. They have to be alerted to save energy. This is extremely important to control energy consumption.
On this occasion, Director of Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Mission Pratibha Rani said that 15 departments are associated with Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Mission. Positive results of this mission being run with continuity on a large scale have started coming. Forest cover has increased in Bihar.
Those who addressed the discussion included the Director of NBPDCL, Director of BSPGCL, Chief Engineer (Generation) and officials of Building Construction and Agriculture Department
