VIJAYAWADA: Energy secretary Srikant Nagulapalli revealed that the State government has responded positively to allot the remaining power from the 10,000 megawatts (MW) solar power plants to power distribution companies (Discoms) at free of cost after meeting the demand of the agriculture sector for which it has been proposed. He added that the state government was strongly committed to build an efficient, resilient and financially robust power sector and appealed to employees/engineers of power utilities to continue their cooperation to strengthen the power sector.
“The government would construct the 10,000 MW solar power plant with an objective to ensure free power supply to the agriculture sector for the next 30 years. The government has responded positively to allot the remaining power to discoms at free of cost after fulfilment of requirements of the agriculture sector,” the secretary said in a statement on Thursday. Though employees and experts appealed to the department to take up the project in a phased manner through a government-owned entity, it is learnt that there won’t be any changes in the execution plan as the development model is a policy decision of the government, officials said.
While the power utilities employees suggested that the project execution be given to either APGENCO or AP Green Energy Corporation Ltd (APGECL), the officials said the financial capabilities of such government-owned companies will not be feasible for taking up the project.
The secretary, in an interaction with the employees and officials, further said that the State government has no plans to hand over Rayalaseema Thermal Power plant (RTTP) to NTPC Ltd, and that it has already written to the Central government opposing the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which led to apprehensions among power sector employees. Energy Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy had also made it clear that the State government wants the power utilities to be under the public sector, he pointed out.