Telangana Looks To Power Over 5200 Schools With Solar Rooftop

The Telangana Government is striving to relieve government-run schools from the financial burden of electricity bills. The government will be introducing more solar power plants on the rooftops of its schools of different capacities. The plan involves installing solar power plants in a total of 5,267 schools, which includes 4,600 government and local body high schools, 475 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs), and 192 Model Schools.

To accommodate the varying energy needs, a 5-kilowatt capacity solar power plant will be set up by Telangana state in government and local body high schools. Moreover, as per reports, KGBVs and Model Schools that are residential institutions with higher electricity consumption, will have 10-kilowatt capacity plants.

The School Education department has meticulously prepared a detailed project report for this initiative, estimating a cost of Rs 80,000 per kW. The entire project is expected to require an investment of Rs 283 crore and is likely to be managed by the Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation (TSREDCO).

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The Telangana government has already successfully implemented solar-powered systems in 1,521 government and local body schools across 12 districts under the ‘Mana Ooru – Mana Badi / Mana Basti Mana Badi’ initiative. These initial 2-kilowatt solar plants, established at a cost of Rs 32 crore, are currently generating 3,072 KW of power.

To further enhance energy generation, the capacity of more than 1,200 of these solar plants will be upgraded to 5 kW each.

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As part of the ‘Mana Ooru – Mana Badi’ program, government schools have been modernized and equipped by Telangana government with essential facilities like computer labs, libraries, and science labs. This led to a rise in electricity consumption and subsequently higher power bills. To address this issue, the government has taken the decision to exempt schools from the financial burden of electricity bills.

Moreover, any surplus solar power produced during holidays will be seamlessly integrated into the grid, and schools will receive monetary compensation based on the units transferred.

In 2022, the Telangana government held that it was aiming at solarizing 1,521 schools in 12 districts. Now the efforts are being stepped up.