Diu has become the first Union Territory of the country to run 100 per cent on solar power energy.
Diu has a total area of 42 square kilometers and the installation of the solar power plants here has been done in over 50 acres. On a daily basis, the Union Territory generates a total of 13 megawatts of electricity from solar power plants out of this 3 MW is contributed by rooftop solar plants and 10 MW by others.
Diu, whose population is just 56,000, the peak demand for electricity rises up to 7 MW however, with the solar power plants, a total of 10.5 MW power is generated on a daily basis.
The solar power plants has provided big relief to the local residents in terms of bringing down the monthly bill charges.
Earlier, 0-50 units charge was Re 1.20 unit and 50-100 units were charged at Re 1.50 per unit. With the operation of the solar power plants, the 0-50 units slab has been removed by the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission for Goa and the Union Territories.
The report says that the revised charge is Re 1.01 per unit for 1-100 units.
The installation of solar power plants has resulted in significantly reducing the power loss which was earlier faced when the UT consumed electricity supplied from the power grid owned by the Gujarat government.