30 percent of 472 villages electrified this month are off-grid

According to the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), electrification of 472 villages was completed this month (6june-28june) and about 142 of them got an off-grid connection.

Solar PV has remained the most deployed off-grid connection in the country, with total installed capacity of 7.5GW as of May 2016. Nine out of eleven projects sanctioned under renewable generation installations by REC in 2015-16 are solar PV-based, at an estimated cost of 2852.17 Cr.

Though the sanctions for off-grid installations are necessitated by geographical challenges of the area, its adoption is increasing at a rapid pace owing to availability and simplicity of operation when a carbon-free generation source is vouched for. The capacity is targeted to reach 48GW by 2019 and attaining a total of 100GW by 2020.

Adding 57 off-grid electrified villages in Assam by week ending 19 June, the state has reached a total of 89 villages out of the 99 installed with off-grid electricity production in the past fortnight. But this only takes it only a little closer to 50 percent of the target set for the state.

As of April 2015, 3449 villages were identified un-electrified. Around 20 percent are being supplied with power and REC aims to electrify the rest by March 2017.

Source-Garv