The minister and power department officials called on Governor Dr. Hari Babu Kambhampati and discussed initiatives to raise power generation in the state.
Aizawl : Mizoram power and electricity minister R. Lalzirliana on Wednesday said the state has the potential of generating 4,000 Megawatt hydroelectric power, an official statement said.
The minister along with officials of power and electricity department called on Governor Dr. Hari Babu Kambhampati and discussed initiatives to raise power generation in the state, the statement said.
During an interaction with the Governor, Lalzirliana informed the former that the state generates about 10 MW of electricity power through various power dams across the state, which is far below the state’s requirment, it said.
The minister said the state at present consumes 144 MW in a day and most of its requirements are met from power purchased from outside the state, it said.
Lalzirliana said the state governments, both in the past and present, could not take up major project like hydroelectricity project due to financial constraints, the statement said.
According to the minister, two mini-dydel projects that will generate 24 MW power are in the pipeline.
He also hinted at the possibilities of exploring the options of getting collaborations with the central public sector units for construction of bigger hydel projects on River Tuivai(210 MW) the, River Mat – Sekawi(76 MW) and other major rivers.
Governor Kambhampati appreciated the efforts made by the power and electricity department to augment the state’s power generation, the official statement said.
He, however, insisted that more work is needed to be done to harness more power to meet the increasing demand.
He suggested the department to work out plans for collaboration with Central Public Sector units to construct major hydel projects in the state, it said.
The Governor further suggested the construction of small capacity solar plants near the existing power sub-stations to supplement the existing power supply, it said.
He also urged the department to ramp up its awareness campaign among its customers for the viability of solar rooftop installations, the statement added.
Source : PTI
