The AP government is taking all required steps for solarisation of around 50,000 grid-connected agri pumps that have been allocated to them under Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan, popularly known as PM KUSUM yojana.
The objective of PM Kusum Yojana is to provide energy security to farmers and is also a part of the initiative of moving towards clean energy. According to officials, the allocation would be equivalent to a cumulative capacity of around 240 mega watts (MW) and for this, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will provide central assistance of about 30% per MW. It is important to metion that the allotment has been made as a part of component C of PM Kusum Yojana, which plans solarisation of ten lakh grid-connected agriculture pumps across Andhra Pradesh.
According to PM KUSUM’s guidelines, while MNRE offers 30% assistance, the State has to provide 30% and the remaining has to be borne by farmer. The cultivator will be able to use the generated solar power to meet the irrigation needs and the surplus solar power, (if any) would be sold to Discoms at the price fixed by State Electricity Regulatory Commission.
S Ramana Reddy, Vice-chairman and MD, New and Renewable Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP) Ltd. said that the officials would now start the process of implementation of the project like identification of connections at feeder-level for solarisation; capacity estimation & necessary land for the same.
One of the conditions for the execution of PM Kusum scheme is that only domestically manufactured PV modules must be used.
Reddy said that “The guidelines say integration must be done at 11 kV level, but we proposed for integration at higher levels such as 132 kV & 220 kV. Once there is clarity on it, we will work out the finer details for implementation and go for tenders”.
For the record, there are more than 6,663 agriculture feeders & 18 lakh connections in AP. While 50,000 agri pumps have been allotted for the state, the officials told that the number could increase further.
