Diu is a part of the Union Territory of Daman and Diu. It has become the first city in India that runs on 100% renewable energy during the daytime.
- It has set a benchmark for other cities to follow.
Key facts
- Diu had been importing 73% of its power from Gujarat till last year.
- It has developed a 9-MW solar park spread over 50 hectares rocky barren land, besides installing solar panels on the rooftops on 79 government buildings, generating 1.3 MW annually
- Diu also offers a subsidy of Rs 10,000 – 50,000 to its residents for installing 1-5 KW rooftop solar panels.
- It is saving about 13,000 tonnes of carbon emissions every year.
- Due to low-cost solar energy, power tariffs have been cut in residential category by 10% last year and 15% this year.
- There are plans to make the city fully self-sufficient day and night via the addition of a 6.8MW wind power unit by 2019.
- As of now, the solar energy is sufficient to take care of the day needs but for the night it still has to import from Gujarat.
- With windmill projects, Diu will be self-sufficient in its energy needs.
- Earlier this year, the Indian Government’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), government of India, named Surat – the Diamond City – India’s leading solar smart city.
- Surat is among one of the few cities in India to have met the expectations in the field of renewable energy after the launch of the ‘Smart Cities Mission’ by the government in 2015.
