Lady Irwin College, Delhi University installed a 218kWp (kilowatt peak) solar power plant at its campus today. The largest solar power plant was inaugurated by Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal in the presence of Dharmendra, Chairman New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and Dr. Anupa Siddhu, Director Lady Irwin College.
The green initiative has been developed under the Delhi Government’s capital subsidy program for solarizing government buildings, including schools and colleges. Speaking on the occasion Arvind Kejriwal said ”It gives me great pride & happiness to inaugurate the 218kWp Solar Power plant at the prestigious Lady Irwin College. This pioneering initiative will inspire other colleges to adopt this technology. I would like to thank Oakridge Energy for commissioning this project in record time, that too under difficult conditions due to the raging pandemic. The Solar policy being implemented by our government makes it extremely easy for rooftop owners to commission their own plants and reduce their electricity bills. With the help of subsidies, companies like Oakridge will install solar plants on your rooftop and enable you to sell excess power to power supply companies. Delhi can become the solar capital of India and we need to spread awareness to make this into a mass movement”.
The solar power plant will take care of upto 80% of the electricity requirement of Lady Irwin College saving upto Rs. 3.81 crores in electricity bills over the life of the project.
The entire project has been financed, developed and commissioned by Oakridge Energy, a leading rooftop developer in India. Oakridge Energy has commissioned the project for Lady Irwin College on a turnkey basis under a 25 year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for sale of power at Rs 3.13 per unit which is the lowest tariff paid by an institutional customer for a solar rooftop plant in India. Oakridge Energy is a leading solar rooftop developer with a presence across 6 states and over 1,000 completed solar installations.
Shravan Sampath, CEO, Oakridge Energy said, “We feel honoured to be part of this milestone for Delhi and support Chief Minister Kejriwal’s vision of increasing use of renewable sources of energy in Delhi. The subsidy program for government buildings is the right step in that direction and one which will benefit every citizen in contributing to this green cause. Green Energy is the future of the country, and our company has already contributed to the reduction of over 630,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions over the lifetime of our projects. We are committed to developing solar rooftop plants where our customers can utilize their rooftop area to reduce their carbon footprint and take advantage of clean and green solar energy”.
Dr Anupa Siddhu, Director, Lady Irwin College said “We take great pride in the unique academic blend of courses we offer our students along with one of the greenest campus in Delhi University. Taking into consideration the effect of global warming, we felt it was time to shift our dependency from fossil fuel to renewable resources of energy. The addition of this solar plant will not only fulfill our electricity needs but also help us reduce our electricity cost. The solar plant has been put under the Government of Delhi’s scheme for solarisation of government buildings and we acknowledge the Delhi government and IPGCL for their support. We are delighted to be working with Oakridge Energy who has developed this 218 kWp project with utmost standards of professionalism and within the Government scheme timelines”.
The solar power plant will generate 3.05 lakh units of power each year resulting in a reduction in CO2 emission of 274 tonnes per year which is equivalent to the planting of 13,500 trees.
