Siddaramaiah’s microgrid plan shelved over costs, technical flaws | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: The energy department has decided to quietly shelve one of chief minister Siddaramaiah’s flagship budget proposals — the ambitious ‘microgrid’ solar scheme — due to high costs and technical roadblocks.In a move that has raised eyebrows in govt circles, the scheme, which was aimed at making remote villages self-sufficient in power through solar and battery storage, has been scrapped barely 15 months after it was announced.Originally conceived as a pilot project across five villages — one each in Chikkamagaluru, Tumakuru, Kodagu, Uttara Kannada, and Kalaburagi — the plan was to install 500Mw solar units with battery storage in each location. Energy minister KJ George, who is also minister in charge of Chikkamagaluru, had backed the project in its initial stages.But a govt gazette notification issued recently, states: “A 500Mw solar unit with battery installation for preserving energy were to be installed in the five identified villages. At a cost of Rs 7.9 per unit, the scheme would have cost the exchequer Rs 39.7 crore. But considering that the scheme scale was small and the cost of procuring power was high, the project cost was estimated to be high. With power purchase at the current rate being expensive, it would have been a hefty financial burden on Escoms and would not serve the purpose it was meant for.“The order also pointed to a key technical flaw in battery system design, making it impractical with current safety protocols. “The battery system was technically unviable as the inverter for battery storage could not be kept ‘switched on’ when current was not being supplied by Escoms on account of ‘safety directives’. As a result, the intent to make these villages energy self-sufficient cannot be realised,” the order said.Still, the govt says it remains committed to the goal of decentralised, clean energy. The order states that Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd (Kredl) is continuing to invest in advanced battery storage systems at Pavagada and Kalaburagi. “The energy department has not given up on the scheme’s basic intent of making villages self-sufficient,” the order states.