Tata Power plans to give a fillip to rooftop solar power generation and smart grids to manage peak demand in Delhi. Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd. (TDPPL) expects to manage peak-hour demand up to 500 MW in the next five years through its new initiatives without the need for signing new contracts for power procurement.

The company has written to the Delhi government and Union power ministry seeking permission to surrender about 400 MW costly power contracts signed by the erstwhile Delhi Vidyut Board with state-run power producers such as NTPC and NHPCand some Delhi government-run power projects resulting in higher costs.

TDPPL chief executive officer Praveer Sinha told ET that the company's present peak-hour requirement is 1,700 MW. The present power purchase contracts are at an average cost of Rs 6 per unit. The company seeks to replace them with cheaper contracts of Rs. 4 per unit. He said the company plans to generate 400 MW of rooftop solar energy in Delhi by 2021. TDPPL has launched a scheme to install and maintain rooftop solar panels for commercial and industrial power consumers in north and northwest Delhi who agree to make the investment.

The consumers can consume the electricity generated from the plants and sell the excess to grid.