Visakhapatnam, Nov 12 (PTI) Andhra Pradesh Minister Nara Lokesh on Thursday called for faster development of renewable energy projects while warning that high capital costs could double project expenses within three years.
Speaking at a panel discussion in the CII Partnership Summit here, he said, "I want Andhra Pradesh to be Saudi Arabia of clean energy."
“Now what does that mean? There are wind, solar and pumped storage projects. Can we take clean energy and actually go to molecules and then it can be sent to all over the world and substitute our energy requirements domestically,” he stated.
He noted that India is dependent on other nations for meeting energy requirements.
He suggested that India should become independent in energy in the given geopolitical situation and that is where green molecules play an important role.
Andhra Pradesh has seen a 30 per cent jump in consumption of energy, he noted.
Talking about the setting of various projects like data centres, he said, "Our energy requirement potentially can even double. Now we need to do this...there will be a certain base load of traditional energy (gas, thermal)."
He noted that as a state, Andhra Pradesh is blessed and has good wind, solar and pumped hydro storage project sites.
He opined that the bigger challenge is the pace at which we can do it (install projects) as energy requirement will be doubled in two to three years.
He said the challenge for renewable energy players who have invested in the state is ensuring round-the-clock green energy at a competitive price point.
He said, "We all agree that daytime solar price crashes to 50 paisa per unit. But the prices are back at Rs 10 per unit at night time...if we remove the cap then it can go as high as Rs 30 per unit."
He suggested that the idea is how we can ensure RTC (round-the-clock) Green delivery.
"We have to construct the projects in a hurry...because capital is expensive. You don't build it today, then it is going to cost double the amount (cost at present) three years from now."
