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Minister welcomes investment in power sector

PALAKKAD: Electricity Minister A.K. Balan has said that the State Government will encourage and promote any private company, organisation and even individuals to invest in power sector to generate power from wind energy, mini-hydel projects and wave energy from sea waves.

Inaugurating a wind energy project at Agali in Attappady Hills on Sunday, the Minister said an amount of Rs.250 crore would be spent in Palakkad district for the development of power in the current financial year. The existing 33 kV sub-stations would be converted to 110 kV sub-stations for the efficient power distribution, he said.

The Minister said that 20 MW power would be produced from wind in Attappady.

The work on the first phase of the 3.5 MW wind energy project was inaugurated on Sunday. The generation of power would start in September. Eight wind mills would be set up in different parts of Sholayur panchayat to produce 3.5 MW power.

In the second phase, wind mills would be set up in Pudur and Agali panchayats, the Minister said.

Chief (Operations) of M\s Suzlon Energy Limited, which has taken up the wind energy project, Ranjith Singh Parmar, said the wind energy project would become a milestone in Kerala’s energy development starting at Attappady. Suzlon Energy Limited is one of the five companies in the international level in the production of energy from wind. As the consumption of energy in Attappady is below .5 MW, the 20 MW produced by the project could be beneficial to other parts of Palakkad.

The project in Attappady would give new prospects for business and industry in the State. Attappady, which is very backward in fundamental activities, would also be edging to development by this project, he said.

K. Suresh Kumar, Assistant General Manager (Corporate Affairs), Suzlon Energy Limited, said that the company was aiming to produce 20 MW energy at Attappady.

The company is installing 12 Wind Turbine Generators of 600 KW capacity. According to a study by Centre for Wind Energy Technology (CWET), a Union Government organisation, Kerala has a capacity to produce 605 MW energy from wind, he said.

The inaugural function was presided over by Jose Baby, Deputy Speaker. It was addressed by K.K. Vijayakumar, Principal Secretary, Department of Power, Government of Kerala, and T.M. Manoharan, Chairman, Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) among others.

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