Bengaluru cricket stadium becomes first to have rooftop solar plant

Bengaluru: The Chinnaswamy cricket stadium in Bengaluru has become the first cricket venue in the country to have a rooftop solar power plant.

The roof top installation by Karnataka State Cricket Association is a novel initiative executed for the first time at any stadium in the country and probably also the first cricket stadium in the world to have such facility, Karnataka State Cricket Association said.

"KSCA has installed a 400 KW rooftop solar power plant at M Chinnaswamy stadium. We appointed RenXSol Ecotech as solar consultants to KSCA for design, engineering and project management activity for this challenging project," KSCA Secretary Brijesh Patel said.

The plant is designed to generate 5.90 lakh units per year, equivalent to powering 200 AEH (All Electric Homes) households using three KW power annually and also saving about 600 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, the ex-Test cricketer said.

"KSCA has set an example as a stadium able to use its space for helping protect the environment for our children in the years to come," he said in a statement in Bengaluru.

The power generated will be sent to BESCOM (Bangalore Electricity Supply Company) Grid under the Net Metering policy, under which KSCA would pay for only the net of power generated and power consumed. In case of excess solar power if given to BESCOM, then the utility will pay KSCA at Rs 9.56 per unit for such power, Patel said.

Inaugurating the plant on Thursday night, Karnataka Energy Minister D K Shivakumar said the state government will permit construction of an extra floor as an incentive if people install solar power panels on the rooftops of their houses.