KREDL establishes `energy park' in city

KREDL establishes `energy park' in city

The Hindu

It will be inaugurated next month

Bangalore: Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd. (KREDL) has set up an "energy park" in Bangalore. The park, situated adjacent to the Raj Bhavan, will be inaugurated a month from now, said B. Shivalingaiah, Managing Director of KREDL.

The park will showcase renewable energy technologies, including a "solar hut" powered with a photovoltaic system, a swimming pool heated through a solar thermal system, a paddle cycle that converts muscle-power into electricity, a battery operated passenger bus and a woody biomass gasifier.

Speaking at a function to celebrate the National Energy Conservation Day here on Thursday, Dr. Shivalingaiah said that the national target of providing electricity to every household by 2012 could only be met with the use of alternative sources of power generation. "We have to rise to the challenge of producing an additional one lakh MW of power to electrify the 55 per cent of households still without electricity, for which we need an individual commitment to save energy," he said.

Dr. Shivalingaiah added that by 2007, all institutions, industries or households with connections of over 500 KW would be subjected to energy audits.

B.G. Rudrappa, former chairman of the Karnataka Electricity Board, said that he was "scared personally with the priority given to `added capacity', when what we need is to save energy at a time when green house gases and global warming are an undisputable reality." There were several ways to save energy, he said. This included simple devices such as electronic chokes (in place of conventional ones) for illumination. He added that solar photovoltaic systems might provide the answer for the 1.5 lakh villages still without electricity.

"India pays more for a unit of power than the international average because of the need to import good quality diesel and coal," said G.R. Nagabhushana, former chairman, High Voltage Engineering, Indian Institute of Science. He said, "This can be avoided if we tap into alternative sources."

Awards for achievements in the area of energy conservation were given to Bharat Electronics Ltd. and to Mysore Dairy, to encourage industry to check energy consumption.