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Union Power Minister Manohar Lal on Monday said pumped storage projects (PSPs) can play a critical role by storing surplus green power and meeting electricity demand during non-solar hours. India is currently a power-surplus nation, however, excess renewable energy capacity remains under utilised due to limited capacity tie-ups, he noted. The remarks came at a meeting of the Consultative Committee of the Members of Parliament at Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh, a statement issued by the Ministry of Power said. The power minister urged the Members of the Committee to engage with states to consider withdrawal of charges such as Green Energy cess, water tax, and reservoir lease fees, to accelerate the development of PSPs. As per the ministry, around 224 GW PSP has been identified. Of this, ten PSPs with a total capacity of around 7 GW have been commissioned, another ten PSPs of about 12 GW capacity are under construction and fifty-six PSPs with a capacity of about 78 GW are at various stag
The Ministry of Power on Saturday announced the launch of a task force to conceive the India Energy Stack (IES), an initiative aimed at creating a unified, secure, and interoperable digital public infrastructure (DPI) for the energy sector. The IES will play a vital role in integrating renewable energy, enhancing DISCOM efficiency, and delivering transparent, reliable, and future-ready power services, an official statement quoted Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar as saying. There is an urgent need for developing robust DPI in the power sector to manage the country's rising demand, ensure grid stability, and empower consumers. What Aadhaar did for identity and UPI achieved for digital payments, the India Energy Stack will accomplish for the power sector - unlocking seamless, secure, and consumer-centric energy services for every citizen," he added. As India charts its path to becoming a USD 5 trillion economy and advances towards its net-zero commitments, the power sector faces bot
Union Minister Manohar Lal will showcase the country's achievements in the power sector over the past decade at BRICS Energy Ministers' Meeting on May 19, an official statement said on Saturday. Lal is on an official visit to Brazil to attend the meeting, a power ministry statement said. He will showcase the country's achievements in the energy sector over the past decade, including a 90 per cent increase in power capacity, leadership in renewable energy, green hydrogen, and biofuels, as well as innovations and sustainable development. India will also reaffirm its commitment to ensuring equitable access to energy and accelerating the energy transition.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved the revised Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India (SHAKTI) for allocation of coal to the power sector to help them meet long-term and short-term coal requirement. The approval was given by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a move aimed at simplification of the linkage process. The CCEA "has approved grant of fresh coal linkages to thermal power plants of central sector/state sector/independent power producers (IPPs)," the coal ministry said in a statement. With the introduction of Revised SHAKTI (Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India) Policy, two windows --- coal linkage to central gencos/states at notified price and coal linkage to all gencos at a premium above notified price -- have been proposed. The ministry further said 'under coal at notified price' segment the existing mechanism for grant of
Union Power Minister Manohar Lal on Saturday asked states to prioritise prepaid smart metering at government establishments including government colonies. Addressing the regional conference of the power sector here, he said that the installation of prepaid smart meters at government establishments, including government colonies, will streamline optimisation of revenue from consumption of power. "The installation of prepaid smart meters at government establishments, including residential colonies, will not only optimise revenue generation from power consumption but help reduce operational losses of the entities involved in power generation, transmission and distribution network," he said. The regional conference was attended among others by Tripura's Power minister Ratan Lal Nath, Meghalaya Power minister A T Mondal, Mizoram Power minister F Rodingliana and Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang. The Union Power minister also underlined the importance of a future-ready, modern, and
Ministry of Electronics and IT is in discussion with the power ministry to address issues related to energy requirement of data centres, a senior government official said on Saturday. Speaking at Global Technology Summit, IT Secretary S Krishnan said that even before the development around artificial intelligence, there has been a lot of pressure to add data centres for cloud computing etc and at the same time there was was a lot of resistance to setting up more because they guzzle a lot of power and they don't provide much employment. "I think if you have to take advantage of the technology, it (setting up of data centres) is something which needs to be done now. Which means we have to figure out ways of doing it. There are solutions, technological solutions which can be worked out. And my ministry is in consultation with the Ministry of Power and other ministries to try and address this issue," Krishnan said. He said that India has an advantage in terms of having a lot of green ..
Union Power Minister Manohar Lal on Saturday urged industry stakeholders to work on manufacturing innovative solutions to strengthen India's journey towards Viksit Bharat. India's ambitious target of 500 GW of renewable energy target by 2030 provides various opportunities, the minister said, while addressing the Elecrama 2025 event organised by industry body IEEMA in Greater Noida. The power sector is playing an important role in the country's journey towards becoming Viksit Bharat, the minister said, adding that industry stakeholders must work to make the sector a growth engine for India. "The future of power in India is good... in this journey we need to increase production in an innovative way... advance power electronics, efficient transformer, power converters, smart grid solutions are needed to be developed to take benefit of renewable energy (RE)," he told participants, which included domestic and international delegates and investors. Lal further noted that the sector makes