Off-grid solar plants can be connected to the grid, says MNRE

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has said that off-grid solar plants that have been installed under its own programmes can be connected to the grid in locations where net-metering provisions are in place.

May 16, 2019 Uma Gupta

In UP's Daranagar village, PV panels have been installed at every house as part of the government’s Saubhagya scheme and the village is now completely dependent on solar power.

Image: Ismail Khan, gram pradhan, Daranagar

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has said that off-grid solar power plants that were installed under its programmes can be connected to the grid if reliable grid connections are available with net-metering provisions, as it will lead to the optimal utilisation of assets. However, conversions to grid-connected systems will still be subject to applicable regulations and the related costs will be borne by the relevant state government departments.

The MNRE has received requests from state nodal agencies/implementing agencies under the Off-grid and Decentralised Solar PV Applications Programme to allow old off-grid solar PV power plants to be connected to the grid.

Under the government’s Saubhagya Programme, 100% electrification of all willing households has been achieved. Last-mile connectivity to every household in the villages is also being fast-tracked.

According to a recent Indian Ministry of Power document, the country currently has 410,539 circuit kilometers (ckt) of transmission lines, which is a huge jump from just 52,034 ckt in 1985. In the 2017-22 Five Year Plan period (up to February 2019), the country added 174,841 ckt of new transmission capacity.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.