The Andhra Pradesh government on Thursday decided to take the Solar Energy Corporation of India’s offer of supplying 9,000 MW of solar power to meet the needs of the agriculture sector for the next 30 years.
The state Cabinet, which met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, approved a proposal put forth by the SECI, Information and Public Relations Minister Perni Venkataramaiah (Nani) said.
The SECI wrote a letter to the state government requesting the latter to avail of the entire 9,000 MW of solar capacity to be set up in the years 2024, 2025 and 2026 in tranches of 3,000 MW each, at the rate of Rs 2.49 per unit.
The SECI had awarded contracts for 12,000 MW of solar power projects in tranches of 3,000 MW each, with the first tranche commercial operation expected to begin in September 2023.
The AP Green Energy Corporation Limited proposed to take up 10,000 MW of solar power generation in collaboration with private producers to meet the energy requirements of the farm sector.
It initially called bids for 6,400 MW plants and finalised bids for 5,800 MW in February this year.
However, the project could not move ahead as it was stuck in a legal tangle.
Against this backdrop, the SECI came up with the offer to supply 9,000 MW of solar power that “would be an apt and befitting alternative to the state’s tender” and “achieve all the objectives, including costs, and also be cheaper”.
Source: devdiscourse
