Central nod for construction of more hydro power plants

SNS | Kolkata | 16 September, 2016:Necessary permissions related to construction of a planned pumped storage hydro power plant have been received from the Centre, power and renewable energy minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay said on Thursday.

At a programme organised by the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce, he said that the state has one pumped storage hydro power plant and two more will be constructed soon. “We got necessary permission from Central Electricity Authority of India (CEAI) for constructing pump storage hydro power plant. The Centre will fund the entire project,” Chattopadhyay said. He was confident that the 1,000 MW Turga hydel power project would take off shortly once environmental clearances were in place.

Earlier the state utility had launched a detailed survey and project report for the Turga pumped storage project (1,000 MW) and Bandhu pumped storage project ( 900 MW) in Purulia. DPR for both the schemes were completed by 2014-15.

Chattopadhyay also said that the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL) has put greater emphasis on hydro-electric proposals in Darjeeling and pumped storage schemes in Purulia. The Bengal government has also decided to create multiple small solar parks, Chattopadhyay said.

“We are planning for solar parks totalling 500 MW, but doing it at a single site is not possible as we are unable to get large stretches of contiguous land,” he said. The state government will create multiple solar parks and capacity will depend on the size of land. “I have received a letter from the Union power minister for a conference on renewables,” he said.

The minister said 100 per cent electrification was already complete in 11 districts and by March 2017, the entire state would be covered.