Electricity Minister Aryadan Mohammed has said that the Electricity Board was pinning hopes on the North-East Monsoon to tide over the power crisis that the state was currently experiencing.
Speaking at Poojappura Central Prison on Wednesday after switching on the solar energy systems installed in the prison, he said that half-an- hour’s load-shedding was inevitable as availability of water in the reservoirs was 65 per cent less compared to the previous year.
“We are now purchasing electricity from other sources at an exorbitant rate and there is a situation that even that may not be available in future. By 2020, a day’s power demand will be 6,000 Megawatts and the state’s contribution would be limited to 2,000 Megawatts. So, if we have to tide across ‘darkness’, then we have to tailor new projects like tapping non-conventional energy sources,” he said.
The government will encourage installation of non-conventional energy systems in the state. Solar systems would be installed in 10,000 houses and that is expected to generate around 10 Megawatts of power. The government medical colleges, Secretariat, Planning Board offices and other government offices will be fitted with solar systems, he added.
Earlier, Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, in his inaugural speech, said that by installing solar energy systems in the prison, the Department of Prisons had initiated a silent revolution. He said that the solar-powered systems in prisons would help make the prisons an income-generating place by selling the surplus power to consumers outside.
The solar panels were installed in five locations in the prison and the project cost around ` 7.98 crore. The power generated from these plants would be used to light the prison, run the fans and also to boil water and cook food for the inmates.
The Home Minister also inaugurated a newly-built waiting room for the relatives of the inmates who come to visit the prisoners in prison.
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