The Minister said this in a program organized on the occasion of 47th Foundation Day of Power PSU NHPC.
To achieve the target of installing 500GW (Giga Watts) renewable energy potential by 2030Union Energy Minister RK Singh has said that India needs to harness its water resources.
The minister said this in a program organized on the occasion of 47th foundation day of power PSU NHPC on Sunday.
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“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of installing 500GW (Giga Watt) renewable energy (RE) capacity by 2030. We will do that, instead we will exceed the target. But to set up such a quantum of RE capacity, we need a balancing source and that balance source is hydro, this is where the role of NHPC becomes more important,” the minister said in his address.
The Minister has directed NHPC to harness the hydropower resources in the country to become one of the largest hydro power companies in the world.
“I am glad that a lot of progress has been made in the last 2-3 years. You have revived the projects which were stalled for a long time. The 2,000 MW Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project (in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh) is making good progress All hurdles in Dibang (dam) have been removed. Now this 3,000 MW project will also start.
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Appreciating the employees for working with the challenges in the face of adverse weather conditions, he asked NHPC to set up maximum hydro power capacity and bring NHPC in the list of top hydro power companies in the world.
NHPC Limited currently has an installation base of 7071.2 MW from 24 power stations including two projects in JV mode. In addition, the company is also making strides in the solar and wind energy sectors. It has commissioned 103.13MW of solar, rooftop solar and wind power projects at various locations in India.
NHPC Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Abhay Kumar Singh said that NHPC is currently working on a total of 6,000 MW (MW) projects and another 9,000-10,000 MW is in the pipeline.
He said the company will meet its 50,000 MW power Capacity Including Solar, in time.
“We have broken up the target by 2025, 2030, 2040 on how much capacity we have to install and accordingly we will meet our targets. And we will reach our target within time,” the CMD said without giving further details.
When asked about NHPC’s plans to set up new projects, he said, “We have proposed to set up a 3000 MW project in Kaimur, Bihar. We are in talks with the government there.” NHPC is the largest hydro power company in India under the Ministry of Power.
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