Panaji (Goa)  Goa government will notify its ambitious Solar Policy this week which aims to generate 150 MW of power by the year 2022.

The draft Solar Policy was approved by State cabinet in July this year keeping it open for suggestions from the general public and stakeholders.

“The Solar Policy will be notified this week. It is almost finalized. The file has gone to the Chief Minister for his signatures,” State Power Minister Pandurang Madkaikar told reporters here at a  sideline of a function.

He said that though the policy was kept open for suggestion, no major changes have been done. “There were few suggestions made which are incorporated in the policy,” the minister said.

The draft Solar Policy which was unveiled in July this year aims to generate  150 MW of power by 2022.

The policy, prepared by the state-run Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA),  was kept open for suggestions and objections from the public and stakeholders till July 14.

Under the policy, the state government aims to provide 150 MW of solar power to the grid by 2022, as per the draft available on the website of GEDA.

Since Goa is eco-sensitive, thermal energy generation is not possible. Thus, Goa has to entirely depend on the thermal energy from other states, says the draft.

“To attain self-reliance in power generation and to promote clean source of power generation, the solar policy is being adopted. This would result in reduction of carbon emissions,” it says.

“Goa is richly endowed with moderate climate and bright sunshine for almost 8-9 months in a year for generating solar power,” the draft says.

The challenge before the state government is not only to meet the ever-growing demand for power, but also to progressively increase the share of renewable sources, so as to achieve an overall energy security, it says.