While reviewing the Power and Urban Development Sector of Lakshadweep in Kavaratti recently, the Union Minister of Power, Manohar Lal emphasized on the need for reducing dependence on diesel-based power generation by increasing share of renewable sources of power generation like solar and wind.
The meeting was attended by the Administrator, UT of Lakshadweep, Praful Patel – along with senior officials from the UT administration, officials from Govt. of India (GoI) and officials from Power Finance Corporation (PFC). The minister mentioned that his visit to the UT would help in resolution of issues and in identification of new initiatives.
During the meeting, Power Sector issues for the UT of Lakshadweep were deliberated. The status of power generation in the Island and the source of generation, the performance of the electricity department, the issues related to demand and supply of power, performance under flagship scheme of PM Surya Ghar Yojana and power distribution related issues were highlighted in the course of discussion. The status of ground mounted solar project and the proposed project of floating solar power plant were also discussed.
The union minister mentioned that the cost of generation of electricity needs to be reduced over a period of time. In this regard, he emphasized on the need for increasing share of renewable sources of power generation like solar and wind or a combination of both and combining that with battery energy storage system – so as to have a stable grid. He also mentioned to explore the possibility for alternate sources of energy generation. Further, he emphasized on increasing the use of Electric Vehicles (EV) and to have solar-based EV Charging stations to energise. He mentioned that it may be explored if a similar pilot could be done for boats which are currently diesel run.
