Will step up supply to southern grid by 300%, assures Goyal

Interacting with the media after meeting Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, he said distribution would increase from 3,450 MW in 2014 to 18,000 MW in 2020. Lauding the state for doing well in the power sector, he said Tamil Nadu is a power surplus state in the country. This was made possible after the state joined the Centre’s UDAY scheme.

During their interaction, the Chief Minister informed Goyal that the state led the nation in renewable energy capacity with 10,465 MW. It has the highest wind energy capacity in India at 7,849 MW with moves to add another 4,500 MW in 5 years and that the state ranked first in solar power generation also with an installed capacity of 1,702 MW which would be raised to 4,500 MW in phases, the Chief Minister said even while demanding more power from Koodankulam units 3 and 4 and Cheyyur project. 

Adding that the state government’s plea regarding the Cheyyur power plant would be considered sympathetically, the Minister said that implementation of GST would ensure that the state save Rs 500 crore in the supply of power by NLC. This would double when the coal block allocation for Cheyyur was completed, he added. 

Similarly, NLC was accorded sanction to continue with its old power plant till June 2018, till a replacement was readied, he added. He said that arrangements would be made to evacuate power from the renewable sources. 

The Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and the state government had entered into an understanding to provide solar power pumps to farmers, he said and added that both the governments would work to ensure increased energy efficiency.