Bangalore: Energy Minister D K Shivakumar said on Wednesday that the State continued to experience power-cuts due to various technical reasons. This was despite the preparedness of the State government and the power companies.
The government is keen on implementing the new solar policy which is awaiting the approval of the State Cabinet on Thursday, in order to mitigate the crisis, the minister said.
Shivakumar was speaking at the curtain raiser of the Global Renewable Energy Summit (Green Summit-2014) to be held from June 5-7 in the city. The summit is being organised by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
The minister said that under the new solar policy, rooftop solar power generation and supply to the grid for a price are being promoted in urban areas. In rural areas, farmers will be encouraged to sell solar energy.
There is a proposal to change land rules and regulations so that people in rural areas partner with the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited. They can remain owners of the land where they generate solar power and can also sell electricity. The aim is to have a major shift to solar energy from conventional by 2020, the minister said.
P Ravikumar, additional chief secretary, Energy department, said that the implementation of the renewable energy policy has been slow because of varied reasons like legal hurdles, land holdings and policies. All these issues are being addressed in the solar policy.
Another reason why the policy should be implemented at the earliest is that the cost of fossil fuel, which is imported, is increasing every year by seven per cent, he said. When the tariff for renewable energy is decided, all stakeholders will be invited, including consumers, financiers, industrialists and institutions, the official said.
