Experience of Diu Smart City in renewable source of energy
Diu Smart City has set a new benchmark for other smart cities in India and it has become the first city in India that runs on 100 percent renewable energy during the daytime. Diu was selected by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India under Phase I of the Smart City Mission (SCM) and is one among 98 Smart cities selected. Now, Diu is competing with other 98 selected smart cities across the country for the Smart City Challenge Phase 2.
Earlier, Diu had been importing 73 percent of its power from Gujarat until 2017. From 2018 onwards, it has adopted a two-pronged approach whereby a 9 MW solar park spread over 50 hectares’ rocky barren land has been developed besides installing solar panels on the rooftops on 79 government buildings thereby generating 1.3 MW annually. To further enhance its solar capacity, Diu offers its residents a subsidy of INR 10,000-50,000 for installing 1-5KW rooftop solar panels. Diu is saving about 13,000 tons of carbon emissions every year. Due to low-cost solar energy, power tariffs have been cut in a residential category by 10 percent last year and 15 percent this year.