The Energy Department has sought financial and technological support from the French government agency, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), for reducing the cost of power generation and ensuring quality supply.
A high-level delegation, led by AFD country director Bruno Bosle, met Energy Secretary N. Srikant recently and held discussions on the scope for investing in the power sector, an official release here said.
Tapping solar power
Mr. Srikant said the government was contemplating establishing a 10,000 MW solar power project for supplying power to the agriculture sector, for which 50,000 acres had been identified in Kadapa, Kurnool, Anantapur and Prakasam districts.
This would earn the distinction for A.P. as the first State to undertake such a project exclusively for the farm sector.
Besides, the State government intended to introduce cutting-edge technologies across power generation, transmission and distribution chain, and sought the cooperation of AFD in providing technical assistance for scaling the operations.
Mr. Srikant further said that high electricity costs and interruptions in power supply were acting as a disincentive to investment and hampering competitiveness. Keeping that in view, the government preferred low-cost power.
Officials of the Energy Department told the visiting dignitaries that the purchase of renewable power at high prices imposed a huge financial burden on the Discoms, which incurred a loss of ₹29,000 crore by the end of 2019.
The Discoms are taking loans from financial institutions such as IREDA and A.P. Power Finance Corporation for paying their dues to the renewable energy generators. The government has, therefore, resolved to bring down the costs.
The AFD team said it was keen on supporting the projects that help in mitigating the impact of climate change and have the potential to generate long-term positive impact on the quality of life.
AP-Transco Joint Managing Directors K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu and K. Venkateswara Rao, and Director (Grid & Transmission) K. Praveen Kumar were among those present.
