Guidelines for implementation of Component-C of PM KUSUM Scheme on Solarization of Grid-connected Agricultural Pumps.
- Background
Approval of Pradhan Mantri Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyaan (PM KUSUM) Scheme was issued on 08 March 2019. Under Component – C of the Scheme 10 Lakh Grid connected Agriculture Pumps of individual pump capacity up to 7.5 HP are targeted to be solarised by 2022. As per provisions of the Scheme initially one lakh of grid connected agriculture pumps will be solarised on Pilot basis and further scale-up will be after evaluation of pilot mode.
Component-C of PM KUSUM Scheme is a new initiative from the Government of India aimed at ensuring reliable day time power supply for irrigation, reducing subsidy burden on Discoms and providing additional sources of income to the farmers.
Under this Component, individual farmer having grid connected agriculture pump will be supported to solarise pump. Solar PV capacity up to two times of pump capacity in kW is allowed under the scheme, so that the farmer will be able to use the generated solar power to meet the irrigation needs and get additional income by selling surplus solar power to DISCOMs. Water User Associations and community/cluster based irrigation system will also be covered under this component. The States of AP, Gujarat and Karnataka in recent past implemented pilot projects to test the technology and possible modes of operations for solarisation of agriculture pumps. The brief on these pilot projects are given below:
In the State of Andhra Pradesh, APEPDCL is implementing a pilot project wherein all inefficient AC pump-sets on a feeder have been replaced with solar BLDC pump-sets as per MNRE specifications for stand-alone solar water pumps along with 5 year insurance and warranty. Power generated through the solar panels is fed to the BLDC pump and when the pump is not in operation the solar power is exported to the grid through grid tied inverter. Incentive is available to the participating farmers at the rate of Rs. 1.50/kWh for net injection.
Government of Karnataka had also launched Surya Raitha Scheme for solarization of agricultural pumps. Under the Scheme, old inefficient pumps are replaced with new energy efficient pumps. Two-third of the electricity generated through solar panels is to be mandatorily used by farmers and the balance energy can be sold to the Discom at a proposed rate of Rs. 7.50 / kWh.
Under Suryashakti Kisan Yojana (SKY) launched by Government of Gujarat, PV capacity (in kW) of 1.25 times the pump capacity in HP is allowed to be installed for connection on feeders where normally 70% of the farmers connected on the feeder agree to participate in the Scheme.
The scheme allows the Discom to remotely connect or disconnect pumps on a particular feeder to regulate eight hour power supply to non-participating agriculture consumers. Discom purchases the surplus power generated at a rate of Rs. 3.50 per unit and an equal amount of Evacuation Based Incentive is provided to the farmer for seven years to be adjusted against the annual installment for loan portion. Commercial settlement is done based on net of electricity drawn and injected, which is recorded through three meters (Solar generation, pump consumption and import/export from grid) arrangement to get correct reading even in case any of the three meters is faulty. Watch Dog Devise/ Watch dog Transformers are installed to restrict and control the 3-ph power supply hours for non-participating farmers on the feeder. SKY scheme has introduced Software based remote metering of all consumers and prosumers to avoid metering error and metering/billing loss due to manual intervention. Remote monitoring of three meters of Agriculture consumers and other consumers on the feeders is being through Solar Energy Data Management System (SEDM). Distribution loss more than 5% on the feeder is distributed among the solar prosumers on pro-rata of sum of their injected and drawn energy on the feeder. This mechanism enable control over possible irregularities on the feeder.
Guidelines for implementation of PM KUSUM Scheme issued on 22.07.2019 provides that Central PSUs or State Implementing Agencies (IAs) will carry out tendering process as per the Guidelines, standards and specifications issued by MNRE for Component-C. Accordingly, these guidelines are being issued aiming towards smooth implementation of Component-C.
Options for solarisation:
Option-1 (Net-metering): In this case the agriculture pump will continue to run at rated capacity taking power from solar panels and balance power from grid, if required, and in case solar power generation is higher than required by pump, the additional solar power would be fed to the grid. Farmer would be able to import and export power to the grid at the rate specified by the concerned State Government/SERC.
In this case, since the feeder will be kept ‘ON’ during the sunshine hours from morning to evening, there is a possibility that the farmer may run the pump during the peak hours drawing power from the grid and feeding surplus solar power during the off-peak hours. This situation may not be desirable from the Discom’s perspective due to price differential between peak hours and off-peak hours. To overcome this situation, Discom may introduce different drawl and injection tariff rates so that farmers are discouraged to draw power from the grid. Further, Time of Day (ToD) tariff is also an alternative to efficiently manage demand and supply on the solarised feeders.
Option-2 (Pump to run on solar power only): In this case the pump will only run on the solar power as in case of stand-alone solar pump and no power will be drawn from the grid for the operation of pump. The existing motor pump set will have to be replaced with AC/DC solar water pumping system as per MNRE specification for standalone solar pump and when the pump is not running the solar power can be fed in to the grid through suitable grid-tied inverter.
The total solar PV capacity including additionally allowed under the Scheme can be bifurcated into two portions, one portion of SPV capacity as per MNRE specifications required for the standalone solar pumps of given HP capacity, which will either run the pump or feed power to the grid when the pump is not running; and other portion of SPV capacity out of the total allowed by the State will continuously feed power to the grid during sunshine hours.
The Central Government will provide Central Financial Assistance (CFA) up to 30% of the cost of solarisation of the pump for solar PV component including solar modules, module mounting structure, controller/inverter, balance of system, installation & commissioning, five year CMC, insurance, etc., on basis of benchmark cost or cost discovered through tender whichever is less.
