Solar Power for eco-smart dairy farms

Dairy & manufacturing of its associated products is one of the fast-growing industries in India. The introduction of newer technologies to assist with the manufacturing and maintenance of the highest food standards has contributed to significant increases in energy consumption by these state-of-the-art facilities. At present, all dairy operations are performed using electricity from the grid supply, with diesel gen-sets as backup. As a result, any cost increase in the in these sources of power sees a corresponding increase in the operating costs of these large facilities.

Most of the large existing and upcoming dairy operations across India are now looking at ways to improve efficiency of existing processes and also at reducing power costs, in order to enable a sustainable future in a competitive business.  These dairies are considering solar power from their existing rooftops or on available ground area* to provide a part of their energy needs. After all, the benefits are compelling – decreased power bills, lower generator usage, export of surplus power to the grid* during holidays, clean energy credentials and an attractive ROI in the long term. However, it is likely that the plan for solar PV has not been implemented because of the high initial capital cost.

We have just the right solution for you to overcome these initial hurdles. We at U-Solar offer a OPEX financial model called the Build Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) model for large enterprises which will help utilise existing rooftop/ground* space while having to pay only for the power consumed, just as there would be payment for power consumed from state electricity boards. The client signs a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with an energy company at a price lower than the retail price of electricity being offered by the state utility along with a mutually agreed escalation year on year.  The OPEX financial option allows the client to lock in risk free savings and also offers the client an opportunity to acquire the requisite infrastructure needed for solar to be added to the energy mix without the high capital expense and risk associated with the technology, performance, operation and maintenance of the solar power plant for the duration of the agreement.

We have worked and helped one of the leading private dairies in India, Heritage Dairy, which has a vision to reduce dependence on conventional energy while reducing their carbon footprint. This has been done at  four state of the art facilities spread across three states.  Detailed site surveys have been conducted at these facilities. System sizes have been recommended based on the day time requirement between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM as well as the space available to install the solar modules in the facilities.

Post our detailed survey we recommended a system size of 685 kW across four locations in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. We recommended the use of 2192 poly-crystalline solar modules of 320Wp supplied by Risun and twenty-two numbers of 25 kW SMA Solar grid connected inverters. Net-metering was enabled depending on the state policy for a few locations in order to facilitate export of excess power back into the grid on weekends and national holidays at these facilities.

The 685-kW solar power plant will generate approximately 9,60,000 units/ annum with a degradation of 1% year on year. The solar power plants helped the facilities reduce their energy bills and the plant has been successfully running since March 2017. The project was constructed using the Capex Investment option.

U-Solar is now offering the dairy industry a solar financing option with the following minimum requirement:

  • The organization should have a good
    investor grading (CRISIL BBB+ / greater)
  • Minimum system size of 200 + kW
  • Strong financial background
  • Willing to sign long term contractors for
    a duration of 20 years

If your organization is looking to adopt solar, please feel free to get in touch with us. We believe in partnering with our clients on their sustainability journey

Dhwani Sunku | +91 9739824002 | dhwani.sunku@usolar.in

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