Major steps to boost power generation soon
August 25th, 2012 - 9:08 pm ICT by IANSNew Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS) The government is fortifying major initiatives undertaken earlier to improve the power situation in the light of the country’s worst blackout last month.
Minister of State for Power K.C. Venugopal in a written reply informed parliament Friday that among the initiatives taken were delicensing of thermal generation, introduction of Ultra-Mega Power Projects (UMPP) and the investor friendly New Hydro Policy 2008.
With delicensing of generation, it is expected that market forces would weed out excess and inefficient capacity. This has speeded up the entire process and close to 200,000 MW of capacity addition has been cleared by the environment ministry in the way of new coal and gas based power plants.
The Ultra Mega Power projects (UMPP), each with a capacity of 4,000 MW or more, are being developed with the aim of bridging the gap in generation.
The UMPPs are seen as an expansion of the MPP (Mega Power Projects) that the government undertook in the 1990s, with limited success
The New Hydro Policy 2008 was designed to involve the private sector in developing the hydro-electric power sector and reduce dependence on thermal energy, which accounts for 84 percent of the country’s power generation.
The hydro policy has provision of penalty for delays, in case the developer is unable to complete the project in the stipulated period.
Other initiatives listed by the minister were increasing domestic manufacturing capacity of power plant equipment, adoption of supercritical technologies and enhancing availability of trained manpower
- Tata Power's 800 MW thermal plant operational in Gujarat - Jul 19, 2012
- 260 percent power capacity added between 10th and 11th Plans - Aug 17, 2012
- Myntdu Leskha hydel project commissioned - Feb 29, 2012
- Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh may get ultra-mega power plants - Aug 15, 2011
- Hydro-power key to India's energy security: Study - Jun 21, 2012
- Reliance Power starts production at Sasan mines - Sep 03, 2012
- Ambani seeks higher power tariff to ensure industry's health - Sep 04, 2012
- Hydropower firms owe Rs.264 crore to Himachal government - Aug 28, 2012
- NTPC commissions 660 MW supercritical unit in Chhattisgarh - Jun 28, 2011
- Reliance Power's Tilaiya project gets approval for carbon credits - Oct 03, 2011
- Government decides in favour of R-Power's coal transfer plan - Apr 28, 2012
- Jaypee's hydro project in Himachal starts partial generation - Jun 06, 2011
- Himachal legislator seeks probe into Jaypee's project - Mar 27, 2012
- Kashmir focuses on smaller hydroelectric projects - Oct 19, 2011
- Reliance Power concludes India's largest fundraiser - Sep 28, 2010
Tags: blackout, bridging the gap, capacity addition, electric power sector, gap, hydro electric power, hydro policy, manpower, mega power, minister of state, mw, power generation, power plant equipment, power plants, power projects, power situation, thermal energy, thermal generation, venugopal, written reply