CEB to implement Green Energy Scheme for Cooperatives

Government has taken note of arrangements made by the Central Electricity Board (CEB), under its Small Scale Distributed Generation Scheme (SSDG), for the implementation of a Green Energy Scheme for Cooperatives, as announced in Budget Speech 2016-2017. The objective of the Scheme is to allow cooperative societies to produce electricity from solar photovoltaic systems. Under the Scheme, cooperative federations and societies would be entitled to install solar PV not exceeding 5 kilowatt peak, and benefit from a one-off grant of Rs10, 000 per kilowatt up to a maximum of Rs50, 000.

Any excess of electricity produced by a cooperative federation or a society would be credited to its energy account at the CEB under a net metering system. The Green Energy Scheme, under the SSDG, shall enable cooperatives to interconnect their renewable energy installations into the grid at zero cost for back up service and energy storage. Cooperative societies will benefit from the energy storage capacity and will not have to make investment in costly battery energy storage system. They will be able to generate their electricity during the day, especially from the solar PV source, and store it into the grid for future uses free of charge from the CEB. They will also reduce their monthly payment for electricity and use the savings for the investment made in the acquisition of the renewable energy system.