Karnataka govt. backs out of solar power project in five backward villages citing costs 

The Karnataka government which had announced a project to set up micro grid solar units of 500-kilowatt (kW) battery storage capacity in one backward village in the jurisdiction of each electricity supply company (Escom), has decided not to go ahead with the project citing financially non-viability. The project was aimed at making backward villages self-reliant in energy.

By KREDL

Katenahalli in Tumakuru district (Bescom), Arji in Kodagu district (CESC), Lingapura in Chikkamagaluru district (Mescom), Jagalapete in Uttara Kannada district (Hescom), and Antavaram in Kalaburagi district (Gescom) were the five villages selected for the units to be set up. Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL) was the implementing agency for the project. 

K.P. Rudrappaiah, managing director, KREDL, in a letter to the government said: “The cost of installing one 500 kW micro solar grid unit is ₹7.94 crore, and the cost of establishing five such units will be ₹39.7 crore. As the project is on a smaller scale, the cost of implementation will be relatively higher. This will result in a higher price for each unit of electricity (that will be sold) and Escoms will be financially burdened as they would have to buy power for 25 years.” 

He further mentioned that according to the security guidelines, inverters of the battery storage systems should be turned off when there is no power supply from the Escom. While the battery storage systems are supposed to provide power at times when there is no power, when inverters are turned off, they will not be able to do that. “Hence, the project will not help in making villages self-reliant,” Mr. Rudrappaiah argued. 

At a time when renewable energy projects are being pushed widely across the world, this is the second renewable energy-related project that has been dropped by the government that was announced in the 2024-25 budget. Recently, a decision was taken to drop a project to set up 2,500 public EV charging stations.  

New projects

In this case, KREDL has informed the government that to popularise battery energy storage technology, steps are being taken to implement new projects in Pavagada in Tumakuru district and Kalaburagi.