The Tiruchirappalli Smart City Limited has tendered 2.4 MW of ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) projects to be developed at sewage treatment plant (STP) Panchappur, located near Madurai By-Pass road in Tiruchirappalli City Corporation.

The bid-submission deadline is December 20, 2018. The estimated project cost is ₹125 million (~$1.78 million) and the scope of work includes the design, supply, installation, and commissioning of the ground-mounted solar PV project.

The successful bidder will also be responsible to provide barbed wire fencing arrangement, formation of durable surface for vehicular movement, and water supply arrangement for the solar power project site at a cost of ₹10 million (~$0.14 million).

When contacted, an official at Tiruchirappalli City Corporation said the solar PV project will help curb emissions and cut down power cost of the corporation drastically. “The Trichy corporation is gearing up for a solar revolution. We are also planning rooftop solar PV systems across our own office buildings. This will also be an example for residents of Trichy to go solar,” added the official.

Elaborating further, the official said, “According to our plan of implementation of Smart Cities initiative, the Tiruchirappalli City Corporation will also get rooftop solar PV systems installed atop rooftops of buildings owned by it.”

“There are over 200 buildings that have been earmarked for this amounting to total capacity of over 800 kW. Rooftop solar projects will lead to a direct reduction in power cost of these corporation offices,” informed the official.

Under the central government’s Smart Cities Mission, scores of cities have announced their plans for the installation of solar projects to make these cities sustainable.

Recently, the Greater Chennai Corporation also announced that it plans to install solar panels on 662 of its buildings. These buildings would include government offices, schools, and hospitals and these together are expected to generate 3.06 MW of electricity.

Back in March 2018, Karnataka’s Tumakuru Smart City Limited tendered 2.7 MW of grid-connected rooftop solar projects to be established on the city’s government buildings.

Then in April 2018, the Diu Smart City became the first in the country to run on 100 percent renewable energy during daytime hours. It has developed 9 MW solar park in the city along with rooftop solar panels located on 79 government buildings, generating 1.3 MW annually.

Recently, Indore Smart City Development Limited also issued a tender for smart meters to be installed under Indore Smart City project. This is a percentage rate tender for the supply, installation of smart energy meters with RF Mesh Communication Module in area-based development (ABD) area.

Image credit: By Appaji [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons