A.P. pilots solar energy storage project.

Andhra Pradesh will set an example to other States in integration of solar energy with the power grid when the proposed 100 MW storage capacity is created in the green energy corridor coming up in Anantapur and Kadapa districts.

It is a pilot project being supported by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).

“No other state is creating solar energy storage, which is an emerging concept in the entire world,” said New and Renewable Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (NREDCAP) Vice-Chairman and Managing Director M. Kamalakar Babu.

Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of ‘Renewable Invest: Andhra Pradesh 2016’ conference here on Thursday, Mr. Kamalakar Babu said the energy storage facility would help in automatically adjusting the frequency when solar, wind or hybrid energy is exported to the grid. Since solar and wind are ‘infirm’ sources of power, their integration with the grid had to be regulated and a storage facility was the only way to accomplish that, he observed.

“The NREDCAP and private solar and wind energy developers are in the process of creating 1,000 MW of solar and wind energy in Anantapur and Kadapa districts and the proposed buffer of 100 MW will help in stabilising the grid,” he said. A variety of storage solutions like lithium ion or zinc oxide batteries were explored and the project would take shape soon.

Mr. Kamalakar Babu said the green energy corridor would have zones for solar power generation, equipment manufacturing, research and development and training centres.

Forty per cent of the project cost would be borne by the Central government (National Clean Energy Fund), 40 per cent by Japan International Cooperation Agency and the balance by AP-Transco.

Due focus is on grid management as massive capacity additions are on the anvil requiring upgrading of the existing infrastructure.

“The government is concentrating on hybrid power [a mix of solar and wind energy] policy and tariffs thereof. Besides, priority has been given to generating 35 MW through solar systems on rooftops of government buildings in a year or two,” Mr. Kamalakar Babu added.

The Municipal Corporation has already commissioned 200 Kilo Watts of rooftop generation out of the targeted 500 Kilo Watts in technical collaboration with PPS Enviro Power Pvt. Ltd.

THE HINDU