Team News Riveting
Ranchi, September 17
Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), the West Bengal located coal producing subsidiary of Coal India Limited, commissioned a 250 kW roof top solar power project on Wednesday ramping up its total installed solar roof top capacity to 692 kW.
Implemented through Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the newly installed 250 kW plant set up at ECL’s headquarters in Sanctoria for captive consumption has an average generation of 3.65 Lakh units per annum. This is sufficient to meet 12% of the entire average annual power consumption of ECL’s headquarters which is 30 Lakh units. The project cost is Rs.65 Lakhs, excluding SECI’s incentive.
The previously installed 442 kW capacity roof top solar power projects are spread across ECL for consumption in hospitals, area offices and guest houses. Average annual generation from these Solar Projects is 6.45 lakh units. With installation of the recent project, ECL’s total solar generation has jumped to 10.10 lakh Units.
“Apart from bringing down the power consumption bill, what is important is the carbon-di-oxide reduction leading to better environment. With the implementation of 250 kW Solar plant, the estimated reduction in CO2 emission is almost 300 tons per year. Combined with the company’s already existing 442 kW solar power projects the total CO2 reduction will be to the tune of 830 tons per year” said a senior official of CIL.
ECL’s CMD Prem Sagar Mishra along with the Directors of the company inaugurated the project.
Solar power generation lists high on priority of Coal India’s diversification portfolio where the company would be infusing much of its own investment. CIL is serious in its intent to pursue solar power generation as an alternative green energy source and has laid out plans to install 3,000 MW solar power by 2024.
CIL is developing necessary in-house expertise and has created a team of competent officers for its solar power initiatives.
A fully owned subsidiaries of CIL, ECL operates coal mines in Jharkhand and West Bengal. Under the company’s command areas of operations, there are 14 numbers of operating areas with 78 numbers of working mines, 49 Underground mines, 20 opencast mines and 9 mixed mines.
