Coimbatore: The city corporation has commenced the month-long trial run of solar power plant at Ukkadam. The plant would be inaugurated shortly after the trail period.“Till date, we have not witnessed any major failure during the trail run,” said a corporation official. With 3,168 panels, the plant was set up at a cost of Rs 5.5 crore. Each panel comes with 320 watts capacity.After inaugurating the plant, the city corporation is likely to set up an educational hub to create awareness among the public, especially students, on the solar plant project. “Students will be allowed to visit the plant for educational purpose,” the official said. Pointing out that the plant was expected to produce 1.41 lakh kwh power a month, the official said it would be transferred to the grids directly as the plant was connected to the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation’s (Tangedco) substation at Ukkadam.“We will be able to save Rs 7.91 lakh a month on electricity bill as we will be utilizing the power generated at the plant to offset the money that is being paid for operating the water pumping station at Velliangadu,” the official said. The pumping station consumes about 9.25 lakh kwh power a month.Meanwhile, the civic body has issued work order to commence installation of another solar plant adjacent to the existing one at Ukkadam at a cost of Rs 17 crore.The plant would be set up on15-acre land with 11,286 solar panels, each with a capacity of 320 watts, the official said.

Stay updated with all the Coimbatore Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.