The state government is contemplating a comprehensive solar power policy as a large of solar power projects are in the pipeline in Andhra Pradesh.
A study team that recently toured Gujarat, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, said that consultants will now be appointed to give recommendations for the policy.
Officials from the Non Conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (Nedcap) visited the three states that have a solar power policy in place to study the impact of solar power and other renewable sources of energy on the overall energy generation capacity in the states.
“The study team has returned and we are now going to appoint consultants for a detailed study of the policies in other states. After that the policy will be formulated,” said managing director of Nedcap, Mr Chandan Mitra. In order to develop the state into an integrated solar generation hub, the state government is looking at developing both Solar Photovoltaics (SPV) and solar thermal projects to enhance the power generation capacity in the state.
The new policy will concentrate on both types of solar energy and it is expected to take shape within the next few months.
Meanwhile, APGenco has plans to foray into power generation through renewable energy sources in a big way. Establishing wind and solar based power plants are on the priority list. A SVP power plant of 1 MW capacity will be established at Jurala and is programmed to be commissioned by September this year.
In addition to that individual solar power firms have started operations at Fab City, a special economic zone near Hyderabad. Generation of around 3 GW of power is expected from these in next 10 years.
