The State government has decided to come out with a policy for wind energy besides updating the solar energy policy to include plans for encouraging roof-top grid connected solar power plants and solar-powered water pumps.
Announcing this at an interaction meeting with members of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FKCCI) here on Friday, Principal Secretary, Energy Department, Amita Prasad, said that the wind policy is expected to be in place in about two months from now.
Though the State had a policy for the renewable energy sector as a whole, there was no exclusive policy for the development of the wind energy sector, she pointed out. There was a need for a policy for tapping wind energy as the State had high potential for wind energy, she said.
Solar energy
Referring to the solar energy policy formulated last year, Dr. Prasad said that this policy did not have the incentives and policy measures pertaining to grid-connected roof-top solar plants and solar-powered water pumps.
“We have decided to pronounce the policy measures with respect to these components,” she said while indicating that the government was willing to provide incentives to solar-powered water pumps as that would help energy conservation.
A technical committee headed by the managing director of the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited had been formed to prepare a draft of the proposed policy measures with respect to the solar energy components within a month.
Apart from this, the technical committee will fill the gaps in the solar energy policy wherever necessary. The committee had been told to examine whether there was a need to revise the entire solar policy, she said.
Stating that the government was committed to making the State numero uno in terms of development in the power sector, she said that attention would be given to all aspects in the sector, including generation, transmission and distribution of power.
Commission
She said that the government was in the process of constituting a selection committee to choose two new members for the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission to fill two vacancies.
Even as she assured industries of considering most of their demands, Dr. Prasad asked them to be ethical.
FKCCI president R. Shivakumar, FKCCI’s Energy and Renewable Committee senior chairman Ramesh Sriranganathan and chairman Ramesh Shivanna spoke.
