“It is estimated that the peak power demand in the upcoming summer will be around 13,700 megawatts, and the electricity demand is expected to reach approximately 260 million units per day,” Chief Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh and Special Chief Secretary Energy, K. Vijayanand has said.
He said this at a high-level review meeting on Saturday with power utilities and emphasised the need for collective efforts to provide nine hours of free power to agricultural sector and maintain 24×7 uninterrupted power supply for all other consumers in view of the increasing electricity demand in the upcoming summer season.
Vijayanand said that the government has sanctioned 40,000 new agricultural connections across the state, out of which 12,846 connections have been released and instructed officials to expedite the release of the remaining connections. He directed APTRANSCO, DISCOMs, APGENCO, and other power sector entities to accelerate project execution and timely completion of all ongoing and planned projects while ensuring reliability, efficiency, and consumer satisfaction.
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Talking about peak demand he said “In line with this, plans should be made to ensure that the major portion of the required power is generated by APGENCO during summer and the State Government would offer full support to APGENCO in coal procurement and transportation.”
Reviewing the Renewable Energy & Storage Projects, he said that Andhra Pradesh has committed to adding 72.6 GW of renewable energy capacity (40 GWp of Solar, 20 GW of Wind, 12 GW of Pumped Storage, and 0.6 GW of Bio-Energy) over the next six years.
The state has already approved clean energy projects worth ₹85,727 crores, which include 1,376 MW of solar and wind capacity, 1 Million Metric Tonne Per Annum (MMTPA) of Green Hydrogen, and 11,000 Tonnes Per Day(TPD) of compressed biogas production. “Further, the Ministry of Power has tentatively agreed to allocate 1,000 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) capacity under the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme. The state has requested an additional 1,000 MW / 2,000 MWh capacity through Central Public Sector Utility (CPSU) components like National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN)”, he said.