Union power secretary Alok Kumar was within the metropolis final week to take part within the sectoral session on ‘Sustainable Growth By means of Renewable Vitality’ at Uttar Pradesh International Traders’ Summit (UPGIS). Having led the state’s vitality sector for a big period of time, he put ahead a lot of options to enhance the effectivity of the state’s power distribution firms (discoms). In an unique dialog with Brajendra Ok Parashar, Kumar spoke at size on totally different points, together with the controversial smart metering challenge and the state’s reluctance to import coal. Excerpts:
In your tackle on the sectoral session of UPGIS, you suggested discoms to speedily roll out the bold smart pay as you go metering. Please elaborate.
The speedy rollout and execution of the smart pay as you go metering challenge being applied throughout the nation beneath the Centre-funded Reforms-Based mostly and Outcome-Linked Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme are very important for discoms to scale back their losses and improve invoice assortment effectivity. The outcomes of smart meters already put in in lots of states, together with UP, beneath the outdated schemes are encouraging. Nonetheless, UP’s assortment effectivity (the proportion of cash recovered from customers with regard to the billed quantity) is unsatisfactory.
However Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd (MVVNL), one of many 5 state-owned discoms in UP, has cancelled the smart pay as you go metering tender that was to be awarded to an organization of the Adani group even after the latter was discovered to be the L1 amongst all bidders.
That is none of our concern. Awarding and cancelling a young is the states’ prerogative and they’re free to award the smart metering challenge to any firm they need to by following the due tendering course of. Our solely concern is that UP, or some other state for that matter, ought to not preserve sitting on the smart metering challenge. Now we have instructed UP discoms to finalise tenders on the earliest with none delay. The primary section of meter set up in large cities have to be accomplished by this December.
It’s learnt that you simply lately known as a gathering of UP Power Company Ltd (UPPCL) officers in Delhi on this regard.
The assembly was not in regards to the new smart pay as you go metering tenders however the outdated ones. UPPCL has had some points with Vitality Effectivity Companies Ltd (EESL), a Authorities of India enterprise, and the assembly was to thrash out these points.
The state has not agreed to import costly international coal for the aim of mixing it with home coal regardless of the power ministry’s repeated advisories and instructions. Has the ministry accepted the state authorities’s stand on the problem?
In no way. Now we have suggested UP to rethink its decision on coal import. Now we have instructed all of the states that offering extra coal rakes to them will not be doable after they really feel the coal crunch at thermal crops in the event that they do not import the identical. Because the demand for power is rising within the nation, and so is for coal, mixing is important to increase coal shares at thermal crops.
In the course of the three-day GIS, UP signed MoUs value round ₹8 lakh crore for personal funding in renewable vitality alone towards the full intents value ₹35 lakh crore. How do you see this?
The truth is, the state wants even greater investments within the renewable vitality sector. It’s because UP’s renewable buy obligation (RPO) is round 8% vis-a-vis the nationwide common of 24%, which suggests of the full power that UP discoms purchase and promote to customers, renewable power contains a meagre 8%. Their goal, now, ought to be to get the utmost variety of MoUs transformed into precise investments and initiatives.
Local weather change is a worldwide concern. The vitality sector, particularly fossil power, accounts for the very best quantity of CO2 emissions in India. The way in which demand for power is rising within the nation emissions will additional improve. Any roadmap to take care of this example?
India is a creating nation and can’t decrease its tempo of growth. So, the demand for power is certain to improve with the rise in developmental actions, all leading to extra CO2 emissions. What we are able to do is scale back the emission depth (charge) whereas making efforts to get an increasing number of power from non-fossil (renewable) sources. Vitality effectivity is one other space we’re repeatedly engaged on to mitigate the state of affairs.
Rising the air-conditioning house is a matter of concern and desires to be managed, particularly by industrial and enterprise institutions. We’re amending the Vitality Conservation Act beneath which vitality conservation targets shall be fastened for large industries.
On the summit, you suggested UP to be smart about its power procurement. What does this imply?
UP ought to not have interaction in long-term power buy agreements (PPAs). The state does not require the identical quantity of power all year long. It is just throughout sure months in a 12 months when the demand may be very excessive requiring the supply of extra electrical energy. The state, nonetheless, has to pay an enormous sum of money as fastened fees to producers even when it buys no power from them within the months when the demand is low. UP is paying a whopping ₹10,000 crore yearly as fastened fees solely to producers due to avoidable long-term PPAs it entered into up to now.