Haryana Energy Minister : The Minister of State (I / C) for Power, Shri Heeralal Nagar attended the Conference of Power Ministers of North Eastern States and Union Territories in Chandigarh today. In the conference held under the chairmanship of Union Power Minister Shri Manohar Lal, the Power Minister highlighted the issues related to the State. He urged that permission should be granted to set up 3200 MW thermal plants in Chhabra and Kalisindh under joint venture while reconsidering the need to set up thermal plants at pit head in case the distance from coal sources is more than 1000 km.
Shri Nagar also sought Central assistance for 5000 MW Battery Storage Scheme in addition to the proposed 1000 MW Battery Storage Project. He said that the State Government has set a target to achieve about 90 GW solar power generation capacity by the year 2030. The state’s peak demand is expected to reach 26.5 GW by 2028-29. To meet this maximum demand, a battery energy storage system of 18.5 GW capacity needs to be developed. This can be achieved by adding 5000 MWh of battery energy storage system capacity per annum. In such a situation, the Government of India should provide VGF support to the state to develop 5000 MW storage capacity every year so that the state’s targets related to battery energy storage can be met.
The Union Power Minister gave a patient hearing to these issues raised by the Power Minister and assured to look at them from a positive perspective. Shri Anil Vij, Power Minister, Haryana, Shri Arvind Kumar Sharma, Power Minister, Uttar Pradesh, Shri Ashish Sood, Power Minister, Government of Delhi, Shri Harbhajan Singh, Power Minister, Government of Punjab, among others also spoke in the conference. Inter-state transmission projects, cyber security aspects, better management of summer demand of power, improvement in financial position of Power Distribution Corporations etc.