Tangedco plans to tap solar power for agricultural feeders

CHENNAI: To cut down its losses owing to the free power supply to agricultural consumers, Tangedco has planned to solarise 1,685 segregated agricultural feeders in the next three years.

The solarisation of agricultural feeders has the benefit of energising the feeders through solar power, which is a cheaper source of renewable energy resulting in cost optimisation of the subsidised agriculture sector and as solar plants are to be developed at the distribution level, the voltage profile will be improved and line loss will be reduced, said the Energy Department policy note for 2023-24.

Tangedco has planned to install 20,000 MW of solar power panels and 10,000 MW of battery storage system across the State in the next 10 years.

“The distributed solar plants would be connected to the grid locally to avoid line loss and improve voltage, “ the official said, adding that in the first phase, it planned to set up a 6,000 MW solar power plant and 2,000 MW battery storage system.

“On the request of the Tangedco, the district collectors have identified 4,014.69 acres of land for the establishment of solar power plants in various districts and land acquisition are under process,” the official added.

AD Thirumoorthy, member of the State-level Renewable Energy Committee said that on paper, the solarisation of the agricultural feeders looks good as it would help the utility financially.

“If the actual cost of supply is Rs 6-7 per unit, Tangedco would be able to generate the solar power at Rs 3-4 per unit at the feeder level resulting in the saving of Rs 3 to 4 per unit. Besides, the generation at the consumption point reduces the line loss, improvement of voltage and distribution efficiency,” he said.

He, however, said that Tangedco should do a pilot study on the feeder solarisation on a small scale before going ahead with its plan.

“The pilot study will highlight the pros and cons. It also helps attract the investors for the solar plants, “ he said.

A senior Tangedco official said that for every unit supplied to the agricultural consumer, Tangedco incurs a loss of Rs 3.89 even after the government subsidy.

“However, we will be able to avoid or reduce the gap between the actual cost of supply (Rs 8.35 per unit) and actual billing rate (Rs 4.46 per unit) for agriculture connections with distributed solar generations which would be much less,” the official added.