Power purchase agreements with solar photovoltaic project developers under the Andhra Pradesh state solar power policy will be shortly signed after addressing their concerns, according to a top State Government official.

“The letters of intent have been issued to the developers and PPAs will be shortly signed. We expect at least 500 MW capacity to come up by early next year under the State solar policy,” M. Sahoo, Special Chief Secretary, Department of Energy, Andhra Pradesh, said.

Speaking on the sidelines of a CII conference on captive solar power plants, Sahoo said some of the solar project developers have raised concerns about the lack of connectivity in some rural areas.

“We are trying to sort out the evacuation issue, which will enable solar power plants to function normally even in areas where there is no power supply,” he said.

“The tariff offer of Rs 6.49 per kwh was arrived at based on the bids the State had received. So why are some of the developers now saying they have a problem with it? However, some of the concerns expressed by them in terms of evacuation of power in rural areas is being addressed and we expect to resolve them through a representation to the AP Electricity Regulatory Commission,” he said.

Referring to the current power sector demand-supply mismatch, he said the Government plans to generate an additional 200 MW using naphtha and 500 MW using LNG.

With the commissioning of the 800 MW unit one of AP Genco’s Krishnapatnam project by the month-end, things are expected to get better. While it would take a couple of months to augment the full capacity from the Krishnapatnam project, the demand for power from the rabi crop is expected to come down by them. This would bring down the load burden from the farm sector and power will be utilised in the other sectors, he said.

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