Wednesday, September 18, 2013: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) have singed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to initiate construction of solar power projects on Delhi Metro premises. SECI is under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. It is a not-for-profit company that focuses on the development of Solar Technologies and solar power plants throughout India.
The MoU underlines that the two organisations will coordinate and work with each other for development of Solar Photovoltaic projects at certain DMRC sites. These will be constructed either on the ground or on the rooftops.
“A pilot project of 500 KW will be installed at one of the Delhi Metro stations. In order to carry out these projects, DMRC and SECI will constitute a joint development team (JDT), which will consist of senior officials from both the DMRC and SECI,” The Indian Express quoted a senior DMRC official.
“Production of solar power through this MoU will help DMRC partially fulfil its energy requirements as well as reduce carbon footprints. Earlier, a federal enterprise from Germany had actively supported DMRC’s solar initiative under its COMSOLAR programme, which is meant to facilitate international co-operation for sustainable development,” the official added.
The United Nations had certified DMRC in the year 2011 as the first Metro rail and rail-based system in the world to achieve carbon credits for reducing green house gas emissions. It reduced pollution levels in the city by 6.3 lakh tonnes annually.