Guwahati: Asserting that the solar parks would lead to enhanced renewable power generation, employment opportunities, check environment degradation and overall augmentation of power generation capacity in Assam, State chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday inaugurated 25 megawatt capacity Boko Solar Park at Bhalukghata in Kamrup district.
Built under BOO (build, own, operate) model as a part of Assam Solar Energy Policy 2017, the Boko plant is developed by Azure power private limited and the developer has committed supply of 5.70 crore units annually. The entire power will be procured by APDCL at a fixed rate of rupees 3.24 per unit for 25 years which would ultimately benefit the consumers.
Mentionable is that it is one of the four projects taken up under the 2017 policy. Another 25 megawatt solar park was inaugurated at Lalpul in Udalguri district on Tuesday and two other projects (developed at Nagaon and Silchar) are waiting for commissioning soon. CM Sarma informed that the government is taking steps to establish solar projects in various locations to boost generation capacity and improve power supply.
Sarma added that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the State government has committed to take the development of Assam altogether to a new height in the next five years by driving the power generation towards non-conventional energy sources. Highlighting that climate change is one of the major problems, Sarma revealed that the government has taken a decision to strike a balance between the development and nature.
In presence of State power minister Nandita Gorlosa, environment minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, textiles minister UG Brahma, legislators Nandita Das, Hemanga Thakuria, Suman Haripriya, Rekibuddin Ahmed, Rabha Hasong autonomous council chief Tankeswar Rabha and other dignitaries, Sarma expressed hope that Assam will soon be a leading State to use renewable sources of energy to steer development and mitigate the impact environmental pollution.
