Power putt: golf to ‘empower’ Alwar village

A German renewable energy firm, Conergy, has joined hands with a charitable organisation here to bring electricity to this village, which has 350-odd residents.

Listed with the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Conergy will donate 5,000 euros and provide the infrastructure and technical know-how to set up a solar energy plant in Garh. The Lodge Elysium Masonic Charitable Trust’s Renewable Energy Golf Cup, to be held in Delhi’s Qutab Golf Course on November 3, will be the focal point of gathering more funds for the project.

The tournament, which is expected to attract many bureaucrats, corporate bigwigs and celebrities, will see around 150 golfers—from Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Coorg, Mumbai, Chandigarh—participating.

Conergy country manager Raveendra Kamat K S says Garh was identified after consultation with the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation.

“We were looking for a place near Delhi. After physical recce of the suggestions made by the corporation, we zeroed in on a fair-sized village where we could make an impact,” he said.

The present funding is enough for the initial blueprint, but entry fees and donations from the golf tournament will determine how far the project goes, said Kamat. “The basic plan involves lighting up 75 homes, a school and setting up about a dozen streetlights in the village,” he said, adding that a plan to set up a hospital will depend on how the project takes off.

The villagers will also be sensitised about the use of renewable power resources and will be trained to handle the basic upkeep of the solar set-up.

“An added advantage of a solar set-up is that very little maintenance is required, so we plan to rope in the villagers for this,” he said. Kamat says a 2500 Watt plant would be enough to meet the demand of the village.