Bellary thermal power unit II to be commissioned in February-March

The Bellary Thermal Power Station's (BTPS) second power generation unit with a capacity of 500 MW is getting ready for commissioning in February-March. This has given hope to the power sector in the State, which is reeling under power shortage, that at least a part of the increase in summer demand for power can be managed as this unit would generate about 10 million units of power a day.

However, the only itch is that normally the new thermal stations need some time to stabilise and work to their full potential after being commissioned.

The BTPS Unit II is getting ready for commissioning, Additional Chief Secretary (Energy Department) Shamim Banu told presspersons on the sidelines of a national conference on “Renewable energy for Karnataka's development and energy security” organised by The World Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE), a non-profit organisation working in the area of green energy, here on Tuesday.

She said that the State would add about 100 MW to its installed capacity from the renewable energy sector before March.

This would take the total capacity addition in this financial year from the renewable energy sector alone to 550 MW as about 450 MW had been added from this sector, she pointed out.

Most of the additions to the installed capacity were from wind energy while co-generation too had added about 130 MW, she said.

Meanwhile, WISE submitted a master plan for accelerating development of Karnataka's renewable energy sector to the State Government.

According to the plan, which was submitted to Ms. Banu, the renewable energy potential in Karnataka has been assessed to be in the range of 37,895 MW to 73,095 MW as against the capacity of 18,500 mw assessed by Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited.

Wind and solar energy account for a large chunk of these projects in the master plan. While the wind energy potential has been assessed to be 17,000-25,000 MW, the potential of grid-connected solar power has been assessed to be in the range of 6,800-34,000 mw.

Ms. Banu noted that the master plan prepared by WISE would serve as an action plan to implement the State's renewable energy policy.

WISE director-general G.M. Pillai noted that Karnataka could plan for a formidable future in renewable energy as it had a good potential to tap green power. He said that WISE had associated itself with energy sectors of 12 States.