Shimla: The power network will be strengthened in Himachal Pradesh with Rs 1,600 crore. This loan amount has been approved for the next five-year program for the state in the meeting of the Executive Board of Directors of the World Bank held in Washington.
This amount will be spent on increasing the share of renewable energy in power generation and technical improvement in hydropower projects.
The program will focus on strengthening the electricity network at the transmission and distribution levels in 13 cities within the state. The duration of this program is of five years from 2023 to 2028.
Funding for the program will start from August 2023. This approval of the World Bank has strengthened the plans of the Sukhu government to make the state the country’s first green energy state.
Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu informed that the World Bank will give a loan of Rs 1,600 crore for the energy sector development programme. This will help in overall improvement of the energy sector including integration of renewable energy in the state.
The total cost of the program with the state’s share is Rs 2,000 crore. The Chief Minister said that the World Bank Board approved this program on June 27, 2023 in Washington. The settlement will be done in July.
The CM said that under this programme, the reliability of the state grid at the level of resource utilization, transmission, and distribution of the state and the institutional capabilities of various energy agencies would be upgraded.
Single trading to promote integrated resource planning for comprehensive planning of the energy sector, demand response management, improving technical utilization of hydro power project assets while integrating them with other sources of renewable energy and effective sale of electricity generated in the state Desk installation is included.
These efforts are likely to increase revenue from sale of power. The program aims to set up new capacities in solar power generation of about 200 MW from Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited and Him Energy.
The chief minister said the program would strengthen the environmental and social systems applicable to the state’s power sector.
New investment in hydropower is not envisaged in the program
The Chief Minister informed that no new investment in hydropower has been envisaged under this World Bank-supported programme.
The program will assist the state in developing uniform environmental and social policies and procedures for power sector utilities.