HYDERABAD: With increasing power consumption, the State Government has decided to be firm in grounding all proposed power projects on schedule. A master chart of month-wise progress of all ongoing projects will be prepared and will be monitored directly by none other than the Chief Minister himself on monthly basis.
Chief Minister K Rosaiah today directed the officials to expedite the works pertaining to Kakatiya Thermal Power Station (TPS) Stage-I (500 MW), Rayalaseema TPS Unit-5 (210 MW), Kothagudem TPS Stage- VI (500 MW), Krishnapatnam TPS (1,600 MW) and complete them as per schedule. He wanted the APGenco officials to commission the Kakatiya TPS unit by March 2010 to meet the power demands. While the Rayalaseema TPS Unit-5 will be completed by August 2010, the Kothagudem TPS Stage-VI by October 2010 and Krishnapatnam unit by December 2012.
The Chief Minister also gave his nod for the proposed joint venture of the APGenco with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) to establish new power projects and provide related services jointly. As a first venture, the companies will join hands to establish a 4,000 MW thermal power station at Kanuparthi village in Naguluppalapadu mandal of Prakasam district. The officials were also instructed to impress upon the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for speedy approval of required gas linkage for the 2,100 MW gas-based power project being established at Karimnagar.
On the other hand, the officials are preparing a draft of Merchant Power Policy and the Solar Power Policy at the earliest.
While the Solar Power Policy will be ready within a week, the Energy Department officials are studying the Merchant Power Policies adopted by states like Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Gujarat. A draft policy will be submitted to the Government after a detailed study of these policies.
Meanwhile, the representatives of Astonfield Renewable Resources Limited today called upon the Chief Minister with a proposal to establish a 250 MW solar power project during a period of five years. The delegation felt that the National Solar Mission to be announced by the Central Government to support solar power projects in the country will be a boon for Andhra Pradesh to venture in solar power generation.