Increase power generation in a sustained manner: Chandrababu Naidu

Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed the officials of the Energy Department to devise a time-bound plan for enhancement of the installation capacity of the Polavaram Hydro Electric Project by May 2023 to meet the future requirements of the State.

The 12x80 MW Polavaram Hydro Electric Project costs Rs 5,339 crore. The existing power generation capacity of Polavaram Hydel Project is 2,336 million units. The State government has proposed to almost double the hydel generation from the present 2,336 million units to 4,600 million units by 2022.

Speaking to officials during a teleconference on Sunday, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu felt that with the utilisation of the surplus flows into Godavari, power generation will be possible to an extent of 960 MW, which he said would be very useful in future.

The Chief Minister said the total installation capacity of the State is 18,038 MW. Out of which, the share of APGENCO’s installed capacity is 5,000 MW. The Chief Minister recalled that the Navayuga Engineering Company Limited was given the Letter of Intent (LoI) towards implementation of the Polavaram Project on EPC (turnkey) basis and the excavation works are in full swing.

The Polavaram Hydel Project will also help to meet the peak load energy requirements of the State, Naidu added. He pointed out that the State will need more energy to meet its growing economy. He recalled that the State has maintained a double digit inclusive growth for the last three years, averaging 10.96 per cent as against 7.31 per cent of the national economy.

In this context, Chandrababu Naidu suggested to Energy Minister K Kala Venkata Rao, to further rise the power sector’s generation capacity in a sustainable manner as there is a strong correlation between the GDP growth and increase in power generation capacity, He said the multi-purpose Polavaram Project is meant for the unified development of irrigation, water supply to industries, providing drinking water apart from bulk hydro power generation which ultimately is a boon for economic development of the State.

While appreciating APGENCO, for the special focus being given on completion of all power projects to enhance the installed capacity, the Chief minister directed the Principal Secretary (Energy) Ajay Jain and Managing Director of APGENCO K Vijayanand to strive hard to make APGENCO as number one public sector power generation company in India.

“We had the track record of completing Srisailam left bank powerhouse within the stipulated period, despite several hurdles & misconceptions on cost of power which has later turned to be very cost-effective power. We also completed Simhadri Power Plant, which was totally dedicated to AP. Both these projects turned out to be a boon to the unified State.

So, I want to reiterate that a long vision is crucial for any government to forecast future requirements in any sector particularly key sectors like power sector,” the Chief Minister said. K Vijayanand, MD, AP Genco, explained the details of the projects taken up by the department. Satish Chandra, Special Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister, G Sai Prasad, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and other officials participated in the teleconference.