Odisha seeks Centre’s aid to emerge as power sector leader

Bhubaneswar: Asserting that Odisha has successfully transitioned from a “power-sufficient to a power-empowered” state, the government Tuesday sought the Centre’s support to build itself as a model in the electricity sector.

Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo, who is also in charge of the power department, said this at a conference of the energy ministers and secretaries of the eastern region, chaired by Union Power Minister Manoharlal, in Patna.

“Odisha has successfully transitioned from a power-sufficient to a power-empowered state. The state’s peak power demand of 6,242 MW has been fully met. By 2036, 61 per cent of Odisha’s power portfolio is targeted to be from non-fossil sources,” Singh Deo was quoted in a statement as saying.

Singh Deo informed the gathering that the state plans to add a total of 11,294 MW by 2036, including solar, wind, hydro, distributed renewable energy (DRE), and pumped storage, out of which 3,904 MW has already been contracted.

He said that Odisha has achieved Grid Resilience through Islanding Schemes to ensure uninterrupted power supply during grid failures.

By 2030, Odisha will have 225 substations and 20,939 ckm (Circuit kilometre) of transmission lines with a total transformation capacity of 45,369 MVA (Megavolt-amperes), Singh Deo said.

Apart, the minister said, the renewable power evacuation corridors are being developed. This included Hirakud–Kolabira–Duburi, Indravati–Theruvali–Gopalpur, Theruvali-Jayanagar 400kV LILO at Jayanagar pooling Station, Balimela to Kolab to Jayanagar Pooling Station.

Singh Deo said that the AT&C (Aggregate Technical and Commercial) losses have reduced significantly from 29.5 per cent in FY21 to 16.5 per cent in FY25.

Three out of four DISCOMs have received A+ ratings in the 12th and 13th Annual Rankings of Power Distribution Utilities and were among the top 10 performing utilities in India, he said.

The minister sought proactive support from the Central government on key initiatives like sanction of Rs 6284 crore funds under the revamped distribution sector scheme, Central financial assistance for disaster-resilient power infrastructure, allocation of 800 MW power from the NLC Talabira Phase II project to Odisha and sanction of central financial assistance under Green Energy Transmission Corridor Projects in the state.

This apart, the state government also sought the Centre’s support for the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for Pumped Storage Projects (PSP) in line with Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), floating solar projects, and offshore wind projects in Odisha, along with support for a study of tidal potential on the state’s coastline.

PTI

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