Andhra Pradesh Power Sector
Consumer … the boss
Employees… the pillars
Anticipating a bright future for the power sector, the State Government has resolved to make Andhra Pradesh number one state with abundant availability of cost effective power supply to the consumers and future generations as well with a huge focus on transforming the power sector in all aspects and achieve energy security which is crucial for welfare of people and overall economic development of State.
The main objective of the government is to make availability of qualitative 24X7 power supply to consumers apart from 9 hours power supply to agriculture. As the state’s economic potential is incredibly exciting and the state government is looking at a rapid industrialization and development in all key sectors, the demand for power in Andhra Pradesh is going to increase manifold in the ensuing years. As the state’s growth is intertwined with the power sector, the annual energy consumption in the state has already increased to around 31.45 percent with 65830 MU in 2022-23 when compared to 50077 MU in 2017-18. Also, the utilities have successfully met the all time high energy demand of 251 MU per day very recently.
The electricity growth is crucial for powering the State’s future. The energy services are fundamental for fulfilling basic social needs, driving economic growth and fueling human development. In view of this, the state government is very keen on supplying quality power without interruptions to the consumers.
As part of meeting the future energy demand, the state government has taken constructive measures to enhance power generation installation capacity in the State. The government has laid special emphasis on increasing the renewable energy generation capacity that would help the state ramp up its power generation capacity. This will also ensure that the power becomes cheaper and cleaner which ultimately fulfills the objective of the state government to provide cost effective power to consumers in the state.
Any idea, any action or any step of power utilities will be meant only for strengthening of the sector, overall economic development of the state and protecting the public interest in power sector in the long run in particular. Unless and until the utilities ensure operational and economic stability of the sector, the utilities cannot be ensured of the interest of the consumers particularly in maintaining 24x7 power supply.
Disclosing the above during a review on future plans of power sector with AP power utilities, the special chief secretary energy K Vijayanand said that the government has already announced a renewable energy export policy 2020 to establish wind solar hybrid projects to strengthen the energy sector. Besides, pumped hydro storage projects (PSP) with a capacity of around 33 GW have been planned both on river and off river sites. With the completion of these projects, AP will be number one in the power sector in the country and can export surplus power to other states.
Emphasizing the need for providing best services to the consumers, the Special Chief Secretary energy said that the Consumer is always the boss for the sector and the electricity employee communities are like pillars of the power sector. During the district level review meetings at field level also, the employee community declared their commitment to work round the clock to provide quality power supply to the consumers, special CS said.
He further said that the Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and Energy Minister Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy are keen on providing reliable power supply to consumers and free power to agriculture. The government entered into an agreement with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to procure 7000 MW of solar power to continue the 9 hours day time free power to agriculture for the next 25 years.
Explaining the latest activities of thermal power generating units to Special CS, the MD APGENCO KVN Chakradhar Babu said “GENCO is supplying around 102 to 105 Million Units per day to the state grid which is around 40 to 45% of the total energy demand and is highest ever after bifurcation of the state. APGENCO is making all out efforts to improve coal stocks and also ensuring cost effective and efficient generation of power at better heat rate and optimization of fuel resources. APGENCO will strive hard to be the best organization at national level in power generation and maintaining highest Plant Load Factor (PLF)” he said. MD GENCO further informed special chief secretary energy that APGENCO is preparing an action plan for improving financial and operational performance that will be further strengthen thermal power generating units.
The Special Chief Secretary energy emphasized the need for materializing all the 42 MoUs entered at Vizag Global Investor Summit on 3rd and 4th March-2023 in the energy sector worth around Rs.9.57 lakh Crore having potential to create around 1.80 lakh jobs with leading Investors at National and International level. The state government’s push for green energy and increasingly favorable economic situation has developed a significant interest among investors and made the State one of the most attractive renewable energy destinations in the country”, he said.
“Andhra Pradesh has proved itself as the best State in the areas of Green energy generation, energy efficiency, thermal power generation which ultimately helps the sector in providing better quality services to the consumers. The government is strongly committed to make the power sector pro public and consumer centric. The Ultimate goal of the state government is to make the power sector vibrant and assure 24x7 reliable power to each and every electricity consumer in the state in future”, special CS said.
JMD APTRANSCO (Vigilance&security), B Malla Reddy, CMDs of DISCOMs, I Prudhvi Tej, J Padmajanardhana Reddy, K Santosha Rao and Directors of APTRANSCO, AVK Bhaskar, T Veerabhadra Reddy and other senior officials have participated.
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