Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited, the state's nodal agency for the promotion and development of renewable energy, is planning to solarise electrical connections of Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), which supplies water connections. This is likely to save Rs 2,500 crore in 25 years and at the same time promote the use of green energy.
For that RREC has invited bids under the virtual net metering for setting up ground-mounted solar power plants of 201 MW capacity.
With virtual net metering in place, electricity generated from a solar power plant installed in one location can be adjusted against PHED's connections located at multiple locations.
As per the tender, these plants will be set up near various 33/11 KV sub-centres in the supply sector of Jaipur Vidyut Vidyut Nigam Limited. The electricity generated from these plants will flow in the grid and corresponding units will be adjusted against the units consumed by PHED. This will drastically reduce the electricity bills of water department, which is considered as one of the highest power consumers.
Brains behind the initiative
Hemant Gera, a 1997 batch IAS officer who is serving as Principal Secretary, PHED, has been looking out for solutions for escalating power bills of PHED department. In an interaction with The BuckStopper, Gera has expressed his interest in use of solar energy to power PHED electrical connections.
Dr. Rohit Gupta, a 2006 batch IAS officer, who is serving as Chairman and Managing Director of RREC, took initiative and intelligently floated tender under RESCO model, which means no burden of capital expenditure on plant installation. Gupta is among few IAS officers in the country, who has doctorate degree in Public Affairs from the prestigious Princeton University.
What is there in the tender?
The tender is based on the RESCO (Renewable Energy Service Company) model, which is a zero-investment solar financing arrangement.
Under this model, RREC will not incur any capital expenditure. A third-party developer, which wins the bid, would finance, instal, own and maintain the solar system on government's property.
“In return, RREC will simply purchase the generated solar electricity at a predetermined, discounted tariff through a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA),” said an RREC official.
Apart from that RREC has allowed one bidder to bid only up to a maximum cumulative capacity of 50 MW, to have participation of more developers at competitive rates. The last date for submission of tenders is 14th July 2026.
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