MUMBAI: With electric vehicles and solar rooftops witnessing growth in Mumbai over the past year, power utility firms like Tata Power and Adani Electricity are ensuring that there is adequate skilled manpower to maintain the infrastructure for renewable energy.
The Tata Power Skill Development Institute (TPSDI) at Shahad near Kalyan has begun new courses to impart training in solar photovoltaic for electric vehicle-charging, installation and maintenance of rooftop solar photovoltaic apart from having a simulator training for wind-energy. TOI has learnt that of those being trained lately, 16% were women.
The TPSDI boasts of having life-size training models for photovoltaic plates installed on the ground, rooftops and also floating solar panels which are mounted on a structure that floats on water. “Students here get hands-on training and complete practical experience of how to install, maintain, fix any problem and attend to faults besides detailed knowledge on how the solar PV system functions,” said Jayvadan Mistry, Chief, TPSDI. “We need to create skilled staff to ensure that there is no power loss or fault in the green energy systems in future. We also have created a grid where we train them on how power flows into the grid and can be used to charge electric vehicles,” he said.
Adani Electricity officials said they were encouraging skill development and creation of more manpower for renewable energy infrastructure in the city.
An Adani official said that they also focus on those from disadvantaged sections of society and impart training on skills besides providing employment opportunities. The technical skills are learnt not just by local students but people from power utilities from foreign countries, the official added.
TPSDI principal S K Mahajan said, “We also have students from 60 colleges who have been trained here. Most engineering, polytechnics or ITI give theoretical knowledge to students, but here they get a chance to acquire skills on live equipment and instruments.”
TPSDI has so far trained 1.4 lakh people across all its centres, both in conventional and renewable energy technology. In the last financial year, the institute trained over 45,000 of whom around 2,500 were certified in green job-related skills.
