Gujarat government inaugurates solar rooftop project: The Gujarat government inaugurated a 5 MW solar rooftop project in the state capital city of Gandhinagar. The Gujarat Finance Minister Saurabh Patel, who inaugurated the project, stated that it is not a single large project connected at a single point, but a tiny capacity ranging from 1 KW to 100 KW, placed on unused roofs of buildings in Gandhinagar.

In 2010, the Gujarat state government had accorded an in-principle approval to set up a grid connected 5 MW (5,000 KW) rooftop solar power project in Gandhinagar. a total 5.43 MW (5,430 KW) capacity has been installed on rooftops of 52 government buildings and 376 private residential buildings. A robust and well documented framework was created with the help of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and an innovative scheme was formulated for implementation.

Highlights:

• The project was divided into two parts of 2.5 MW each. Further, it was decided that the power generated would be directly injected to the grid.
• Azure Power and Avartha Solar (Sun Edison) were selected based on their lowest tariff tenders at that time for 2.5 MW project each.
• Power Purchase Agreements, between the two companies anthe average annual consumption of power of Gandhinagar, including industries is about 27.5 crore units, adding, that after inauguration of this project, solar power generation in the city would comprise two per cent of total energy consumption.
• The average annual consumption of power of Gandhinagar, including industries is about 27.5 crore units, adding, that after inauguration of this project, solar power generation in the city would comprise two per cent of total energy consumption.
• The Gujarat Power Corporation Limited (GPCL) has installed its own 750 KW systems on five government rooftops in Gandhinagar