AP poised to solarise 2.93 L agri pump sets

Vijayawada: The state government aims to solarise 2.93 lakh agricultural pump sets and 1,156 feeders, with a total capacity of 1,162.8 megawatt under the PM-KUSUM scheme.

Chief secretary K Vijayanand directed power distribution companies (discoms) to accelerate project implementation. On Saturday, Vijayanand held a virtual review meeting on feeder-level solarisation from his camp office.

APTransco JMD Keerthi Chekuri, discom CMDs I Pruthvi Tej, Pulla Reddy, and K Santosh Rao, APTransco director (Grid) A K V Bhaskar, NREDCAP MD M Kamalakar Babu, other senior officials, and project developers attended.

Vijayanand said that solarising 2.93 lakh pump sets and 1,156 feeders will enable the installation of 1,162.8 mw solar plants, with 5,842 acres of land already identified. He instructed discoms to coordinate with district collectors to expedite the transfer of the remaining 1,700 acres to NREDCAP and to finalise Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and Land Lease Agreements promptly.

NREDCAP was tasked with ensuring smooth disbursement of Central Financial Assistance (CFA) based on project milestones, while developers were directed to complete projects within 12 months.