AP to set up 2500 MW Mega Solar Parks

Hyderabad, Sept 14 (INN): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu said that public interest was the top most priority for his government.

'Providing excellent service to the consumer and quality electricity is the key focus point in power sector. The 24X7 PFA is my dream project and the government has targeted achieving 9150 MW capacity through Renewable Energy and realizing substantial energy savings through energy efficiency projects by FY 2018-19 which will go a long way in making AP a solar hub and a centre of excellence for the country,' Naidu said. He directed the officials concerned to put all out efforts and work round-the-clock (24x7) to rewrite the history of power sector in providing quality & reliable power supply and satisfactory service to the customer at par with global standards by achieving self sufficiency in power sector.

The officials had been cautioned against any complacency in this matter as the Government sees consumer as the real boss of the utilities and his utmost satisfaction is of paramount interest to the Government. Moreover, the ambitious road map drawn up by the government for accelerated growth of the new State would require complete dedication from the official machinery to achieve the targets in time.

The Chief Minister's comments come at a time when the Government of Andhra Pradesh is all set to sign the memorandum of historical joint initiative with Government of India for implementation of prestigious 'Power For All' (24X7) (PFA) programme on 16th September with an ultimate aim of providing quality, reliable and uninterrupted power for domestic, industrial electricity consumers which in turn paves way for improving the living standards of the people, providing employment & overall economic development of state.

Reviewing the modalities for rolling out of the proposed 24X7 PFA Scheme, the Chief Minister has directed the Energy Dept., to make all arrangements to enter into separate MoUs also with NTPC (for Solar & Thermal projects), Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) which will go a long way in realizing the PFA.

The MoU will be signed between GoAP and NTPC for 1000 MW Solar Park in NP Kunta Mandal of Ananthapuramu district. Similarly, there will an MoU between APGENCO, New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP) & SECI for Ultra Mega Solar parks of 2500 MW. Likewise, the State Energy Conservation Mission will sign MoU with EESL on Energy Efficiency activities in Domestic, Agrl. DSM and Municipal Street lighting

This joint initiative will be signed by the concerned Secretaries on the occasion of completion of 100 days of present regime in the presence of the Chief Minister and Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal. They are expected to lead for rapid economic development in all key sectors.

The Chief Minister recalled that AP pioneered the power sector reforms in India as early as 1998 for ensuring quality power to the people and CRISIL had ranked AP as No.1 at the National level in 2003. Later the situation worsened in all aspects .Not just agriculture, but all other sectors suffered badly due to severe power cuts. Industry suffered losses of thousands of crores and lakhs of workers were laid off.

Disclosing the above details Energy Secretary Ajay Jain, along with G Sai Prasad, Secretary, Power, CMO and K Vijayanand, CMD/APTRANSCO & MD/APGENCO, who has briefed the Chief Minister, said that 1200 acres of land at Pudimadaka in Vishakhapatnam has been handed over to NTPC, which has agreed for setting up of mega Thermal Project of 4000 MW, a boon for AP. The Chief Minister has also approved 1000 MW solar park to be set up by NTPC in Ananthapur for which SECI has agreed to fund Rs.200 Crore. CM felt that September 16th, 2014 will be remembered as historical day in AP sector in view of signing the PFA joint initiative with GoI for lightening the lives of common people, Jain added.

Chief Secretary IYR Krishna Rao, Joint Secretary (Union Ministry of Power) Jyoti Arora, NTPC CMD Arup Roy Choudhary, SECI MD Rajendra Nimje and EESL MD Saurabh Kumar are expected to attend the high level joint initiative on 24X7 PFA programme at Lakeview Guest House here.