Gujarat solar project produces power, saves water

Posted on: May 10, 2012

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INNOVATIVE MERGING OF JAL SHAKTI WITH URJA SHAKTI FOR A GREENER TOMORROW : Gujarat dedicates India’s first canal-top Solar Power Project to the nation!

On this occasion, I would like to share with you a pioneering initiative of the innovative merging of Jal Shakti with Urja Shaktiin Gujarat! Today, we will dedicate India’s first canal-top solar power project to the nation. This dream, considered unimaginable till recently, has become a reality today. Gujarat has indeed achieved the unthinkable. This project has been commissioned along a stretch on the Sanand Branch Canal of the Sardar Sarovar Project.It can produce 1 MW electricity and you would be surprised to know that it can save 1 crore litres of water per kilometer annually by preventing it from evaporating. This project has the ability to tackle both energy security and water security, thus leaving behind a green footprint for future generations.

This inauguration comes just a few days after the completion of another landmark project that brought laurels to Gujarat. On 19th April 2012 when our scientists made the nation proud by launching Agni V, Gujarat wrote a new chapter in the history of renewable energy by dedicating 600 MW solar power to the nation. When I travelled to Charanka to inaugurate the solar park, the largest in Asia, I was reminded of the day when we had come to lay the foundation for this very park a year ago. Back then, a concerted attempt was made to stall this historic initiative; all sorts of flimsy reasons were given. When I stood at the same site after a year, I saw with my own eyes that the people of Gujarat had given a fitting reply to these vested interests! Today, as things stand, Gujarat contributes 66% of the nation’s solar energy. This indeed is a proud moment for Gujarat and its people.