With the state reeling under a severe power crunch, the Madurai Corporation has started focusing on energy generation from alternate measures such as solar and bio-ethanol. During the council meeting held on Wednesday, a resolution was passed to call tenders from eligible companies to set up solar projects in the corporation under the Public Private Partnership(PPP).
The resolution stated that power supply for corporation needs like pumping stations and taxation centres had significantly gone up after the corporation limits were expanded from 72 wards to 100 wards. With growing energy requirements, the corporation has resolved to select eligible players for solar power projects. After getting government approval, they will go ahead with calling for the tenders through PPP.
A senior official from TANGEDCO said that the current demand of the city can be estimated to 160 MW to 180 MW per day for 4.16 lakh connections in the city. "The total demand can be estimated somewhere between 160 to 180 MW based on the power consumption. However, the supply will depend on the generation factors like power plants and southern grid. Hence, supply cannot be ascertained like the demand," he said. City engineer, A Mathuram said that the corporation has proposed solar projects to meet the increased power needs on corporation facilities. "We will register in PPP cell with the government and call for the express of interest. The eligible players will then be shortlisted for the project," he said.
Madurai Corporation also passed another important resolution on green energy to produce bio-ethanol and e-diesel by utilising the additional 250 tonnes of garbage generated from the newly annexed areas of the corporation. The resolution also included producing electricity from the bio-ethanol. Passing the resolution, mayor, Rajan Chellappa said that through JnNURM, the corporation had executed bio-compost plants to process 350 tonnes of garbage that was generated from the earlier 72 wards. With another 250 tonnes of garbage generated from newly annexed areas, the corporation will seek out eligible players to work on producing bio-ethanol and e-diesel from which electricity will be produced, he said. Commenting on the project, Mathuram said that producing bio-ethanol from garbage was a successful model abroad and the technology is a viable one.
Corporation sources said that these are big projects which will take considerable time to materialise but they will greatly aid to substantiate the power needs of the corporation.
