A 400kWp Grid Interactive Solar Power Plant has been installed on the roof all around the oval Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium. Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has been claiming of this achievement and is promoting it in different forums. The bus stop just outside Chinnaswamy Stadium where one advertisement has already been put by KSCA is in sync with this development.
As per the plans and design, this will be sufficient enough to power the entire stadium lighting except the towering high-intensity floodlights. Bangalore based company MRO-TEK has executed this project. They have also raised a proposal in lighting the floodlights using solar power and LED lighting which will be next in line in KSCA’s ‘Go Green’ mission.
“We are aiming to make this a green stadiumâ€, said KSCA Honorary Joint Secretary Brijesh Patel, also a former Indian cricketer. “It makes economic sense for us to do this, and the additional power we generate will be offloaded to the grid.â€
At this point, KSCA consumes around 18 lakh units per year, but after the commissioning of the solar power plant it is expected to generate and utilize 6 lakh units annually. The remaining it will utilize from local grid BESCOM. At times when consumption is less it is expected to export the power using bi-directional net metering arrangement, thanks to BESCOM.
The project has been developed at a cost of 4.5 crore INR which was commissioned in February this year. KSCA is very confident to get its return within a span of 4 to 5 years.
MRO-TEK has also proposed in lighting up the floodlights using green energy. As per Mr. H Nandi, founder of MRO-TEK, “Each floodlight consumes about 1 MW power, with each bulb carrying 1,000 watts of power. It can be replaced with 200 watt LED bulbs, which we plan to do experimentally without disturbing other floodlights. With this, power consumption would drastically reduce,â€
With this project already implemented and considering the cash rich BCCI, one can easily expect many other stadiums all across India to follow the same route.
