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‘TN has 1.2 L MW solar power potential; taps less than 1%'

‘TN has 1.2 L MW solar power potential; taps less than 1%'

Time of India2 days ago
Chennai: Tamil Nadu has the potential for 1.29 lakh megawatts of solar power, which, if fully tapped, can meet 100% of the state's projected power demand five years later, according to a study by UN-backed NGO Auroville Consulting.
The installed capacity of solar power in TN, at 10,656 MW, is however just 0.78% of the potential.
The NGO projected the figures for the distributed energy resources (DER) by comparing secondary data from the Solar Technology and Application Atlas of India (STAAI) and the Centre for Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), quantifying the electricity generation capacity of various technologies available, including rooftop and floating photovoltaic systems.
If the entire solar potential is achieved, the state can generate 203.67 trillion units of power in a year, which is more than the projected power requirement for 2030-31. In 2034, it can still meet 87% of the projected power demand, it said.
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Of the 1.29 lakh MW potential, about 50%—60,479 MW—can be achieved just by rooftop solar systems, which can meet half of the power demand in 2030-31. Now, only 1.66% of the rooftop solar potential has been realised so far.
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Tamil Nadu has planned an addition of 18,400 MW of solar capacity in the next 10 years, but this would meet only 14.25% of the total potential, which includes rooftop solar, urban photovoltaic systems, building-integrated photovoltaic systems, floating PV systems, canal top solar systems, and rail and road integrated PV systems.
The study also highlighted that the thermal power generation of the state for 2024-25, which is 74.22 trillion units, could be entirely offset by tapping just 37% of the solar potential or 78% of the rooftop solar potential. "Integration of distributed energy resource (DER) systems, such as rooftop solar, offers a range of benefits at both the network and societal levels. At the network level, DER systems help utilities reduce expenditure by minimising investments in generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure," the study said.
A Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation official said tapping the entire solar power potential is not feasible without battery storage systems. "The inputs will be considered, and viable options will be explored," said the official.
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