Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister P Thangamani on Friday announced that more than ₹750 crore worth of projects that include rooftop solar units, implementation of prepaid meters and other customer-friendly initiatives for 2020-21.

In order to promote solar power in the State, the government will set up 50 MW rooftop solar projects at an outlay of ₹250 crore during 2020-21, he told the Assembly.

To streamline consumption and to boost revenues, state utility Tangedco will install prepaid meters in all State government offices/ undertakings and organisations and other local bodies at an estimated cost of ₹390 crore.

The Minister also said the government will implement the previously announced 10-MW wind-solar hybrid project under a collaboration of Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency and National Institute of Wind Energy at a cost of ₹75 crore at Kayathar in southern Tamil Nadu.

The State government is planning a modern electric vehicle charging station using solar power on a government campus. This EV charging station will offer slow and fast charge features. Depending on the success of this model, the government will look at ramping up the number of such stations.

As part of a customer service improvement plan, Tangedco plans to offer doorstep electric bill payment services using PoS machines for domestic consumers, who could pay their bills using the debit or credit cards. While the government is allocating ₹1.75 crore for this project, it is also planning an annual spend of ₹20 lakh for this initiative.

“This service will particularly help senior citizens and differently-abled people to pay their bills without any hassle,” said Thangamani.

The government will spend more than ₹40 crore in improving infrastructure in a hydro station and transmission area. It will also provide 50,000 new free agriculture service connections during 2020-21

Thangamani said the total power demand in the State was expected to touch about 17,000 MW during this summer and the Tangedco was well-prepared to meet the same. The average demand was between 14,500 MW and 15,500 MW. But in recent months, it crossed 16,150 MW and was expected to touch 17,000 MW soon.

The total installed capacity was about 31,894 MW including 15,779 MW from non-conventional sources.

“About 21 per cent of the state’s power demand is met through renewable energy sources,” he said.

While 15,410 MW power capacity was added in the last 9 years, Tangedco is expected to add 6,220 MW new capacity in the next three years.