Andhra Pradesh Government To Buy 7,000 MW of Solar Power from SECI

The Andhra Pradesh government will purchase total 7,000 MW of Solar Power from Solar Energy Corporation of India’s (SECI), in various lots, from 2024 to benefit 18 lakh farmers.

In a statement released on Friday, Balineni Srinivasa Reddy, Energy Minister said that this will provide nine hours of power during the day for the next 25 years via a special Discom.

He stated that the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) will decide the amount of procurement in accordance with norms of Electricity Act. The commission will set the power tariff according to Electricity Act.

Minister further said that there will be no additional burden on existing Discoms for purchasing power. The entire cost of procuring power from SECI will be borne by the AP government. Because the central grid does not charge any charges for power outside of AP, he maintained that power procurement from a project in another state will be less expensive.

Srinivasa Reddy stated that the land earmarked by the AP government for setting up a 10,000 MW project can be used for another purpose.

According to him, curtailment issues will be subjected to real-time operations of the grid operator depending on demand-general gap. This will ensure grid reliability and uninterrupted power supply 24×7.

No new thermal power plants were started under the previous Telugu Desam regime. The cost of power at Krishnapatnam’s plant went up to Rs 9.3 per megawatt (from Rs 5.5/mw), he said.