Andhra Pradesh To Get 4,000 MW Solar Power Plant

The efforts of the Andhra Pradesh government in incorporating the latest technologies in the power sector and in promoting alternate energy sources for power generation has been received with felicitations from the Central government during the Power Ministers' Conference held at Baroda, Gujarat, on October 7 and 8.

The Union Minister of State for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal, while launching the Centralized Control & Monitoring System (CCMS) for LED street lighting in AP and online feeder monitoring systems DISCOMs in AP, praised AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for spearheading the campaign for renewable energy sources by employing the best global practices and for 100% household electrification in the State.

The commitment of the AP government towards the promotion of clean energy was clear with the commissioning of the 250 MW solar park at Anantapuram within a record period of 10 months after commencing the work, Goyal said.

The Minister for Labour & Employment, Atchannaidu Kinjarapu, who is representing the State on behalf of Naidu, said that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi set the target of generating up to 1,75,000 MW of renewable energy in India during the Paris COP 21 summit on Climate Change, the AP government proactively supported the vision by aiming for 10,000 MW from solar energy and 8,000 MW from wind energy in AP itself.

The Principal Secretary Ajay Jain, during the conference, said that AP became a major stakeholder in India's production of renewable energy through alternate sources. AP is set to develop solar parks with a maximum capacity of 4,000 MW, the highest in India, so far under the Ministry of New Renewable Energy (MNRE) scheme.

He said that the present installed capacity of solar power projects was 950 MW, of which 435 MW was installed during the fiscal year 2015-16 and 436 MW was installed during 2016-17.

Jain also said that around 9,000 MW under the wind power initiative were sanctioned by Andhra Pradesh, of which around 2,000 MW were commissioned & around 7,000 MW projects were under progress.

The Centre expressed its hope that Andhra Pradesh would serve as a model for power efficiency and clean energy.