Rs 1,600 cr WB grant for power sector reforms in Himachal Pradesh

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 19

The Central Government will provide a financial assistance of Rs 1,600 crore through the World Bank (WB) for the Himachal Pradesh Power Sector Development Programme.

A spokesperson for the Directorate of Energy of Himachal said here today that after including the state equity, the total programme would cost around Rs 2,000 crore. “The WB funding under the programme is expected to be available by early next year, and its duration will be five years, starting from 2023 to 2028,” he said.

The objective of the programme is to undertake holistic power sector reforms and pave the way for improvements in renewable energy integration in the state.

“Efforts will be made for the promotion of integrated resource planning to allow comprehensive planning of the power sector, piloting demand response management, improving technical utilisation of the existing hydropower assets to facilitate increased integration with other sources of renewable energy and establishing a single desk for efficient trading of power,” the spokesperson said. These interventions would allow the state to maximise the revenue earned from the sale of energy through renewable balancing capacity. “The programme also aims to install new capacities in solar generation of about 200 MW, through the HPPCL and HIMURJA,” he added.

The programme will also focus on strengthening the power network within the state – at transmission by the HPPTCL and in 13 towns at the distribution level by the HPSEBL. “An upgrade of the systems of the State Load Dispatch Centre will further allow better management of power demand and supply. Collectively, these interventions will ensure improved transfer of power within the state by improving reliability and quality of supply,” he said.

Target areas

The key result areas that will be targeted are improvements in utilisation of the state’s power sector resources (hydro and solar), improvements in reliability of the state’s grid at transmission and distribution levels.

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