Per unit power purchase cost reduced by Rs 0.16 in 2020-’21

There are currently about 18.5 lakh agricultural connections in the state and are being supplied free power for 9 hours a day through 6,663 feeders.

VIJAYAWADA: In a significant move towards consumer’s welfare and development, AP Discoms have undertaken the low-cost advantage of market purchases by substituting costly thermal power with market purchases and were able to reduce per unit power purchase cost by Rs 0.16/unit when compared to the approved cost in FY 2021. Out of the approved total power purchase cost of Rs 31,346 crore, the APDISCOMs have spent only Rs 26,421 crore in FY21 thus achieving total saving of Rs 4,925 Crs

APERC has already taken into account Rs 3,373 crore and has Trued Down for FY 2020-21 in the Retail Supply Tariff Order for the 2021-22 financial year. A number of Rs 1552 crore is still to be reckoned down as True Down pertaining to 2021-22 financial year.

Addressing the gathering after hoisting the national flag at Vidyut Soudha on Wednesday as part of the Republic Day celebrations, secretary for energy Srikant Nagulapalli said the implementation of Navaratnalu in the power sector is top priority of the government. “Millions of families will benefit from these schemes. The scheme of providing 9-hour free power to agriculture during the day time is one of the most important schemes,” he said. Srikant said, there are currently about 18.5 lakh agricultural connections in the state and are being supplied free power for 9 hours a day through 6,663 feeders. The government is providing a subsidy of Rs 7714.21 crore for the free electricity scheme.

The secretary said a total of 7,000 MW of solar power will be procured from 2024 in various lots from the Central Government’s Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and supplied to 18.5 lakh farmers in the state through a special agricultural Discom. “It will help provide nine hours of free electricity a day for the next 25 years without any financial burden on existing Discoms,” the energy secretary said.

He said the AP power utilities have developed a model to predict the electricity demand in the state one day in advance. “This is the first system in the country to work with Artificial Intelligence technology. This allows us to make accurate decisions on issues such as power supply and grid maintenance,” he said.