Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday inaugurated a first-of-its-kind Urban Micro Grid System (Solar+ Battery) at the LV distribution network in the national Capital.

With the growing integration of renewable energy into conventional energy sources, micro grids will play a critical role in enabling the transition and increasing the reliability of the power supply, a senior BSES official said.

The project’s set-up cost is estimated at around Rs 5.5 crore.

The micro-grid is a grid-connected system consisting of 100 KWp Solar PV and 466 kWh Lithium Ion Battery Energy Storage System (BESS).

“It has several unique benefits, including reliable clean power-back for up to two hours, production of about 1.5 lakh units of clean energy per annum, offset of CO2 emissions of about 115 tonnes and avoidance of about 30 metric tonnes of coal; as well as smart use of space. The PV solar modules were installed on an elevated carport structure along with an electric vehicle charging station below,” he said.

The project has been implemented under the umbrella of the Indo-German Solar Partnership Project (IGSEP), commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) that is contributing towards India’s renewable energy goals.

On behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, has signed an agreement with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India. It has now partnered with Reliance Infrastructure led BSES Rajdhani Power Limited to set-up a first-of-its-kind Urban Microgrid System at the LV distribution network in Delhi.

Commenting on the inauguration of Delhi's first LV micro-grid, a spokesperson of the Reliance Infrastructure-led BSES stated: “BSES is committed to energy efficiency, adoption of green and new technology and smart procurement initiatives that will result in optimised solutions for our consumers. Commissioning of this microgrid is a major development that has the potential to be a game-changer in the power distribution sector.”