The Tamil Nadu government has agreed to pay Rs 350 crore to wind power generators, as the first installment towards clearing Rs 1,200 crore outstanding dues related to wind energy supplied to the State.
“The new government has promised to pay Rs 350 crore as first installment to the wind power producers. We expect to get the amount possibly this week or next week,” Indian Wind Power Association (IWPN) Chairman K Kasthurirangaian told PTI today.
IWPN has about 1,100 members and many of them have not received payment from Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGDECO) since August 2010 for power supplied to the State.
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TANGDECO is part of the Tamil Nadu State Electricity Board (TNEB).
“The first installment of Rs 350 crore will be a relief for the state’s wind power producers, who have been starved of funds for many months,” Mr. Kasthurirangaian said.
According to him, the state electricity board owes dues to the tune of Rs 1,200 crore.
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“The government has also agreed to make arrangements for evacuation of power from the wind mills,” he noted.
With a capacity of over 5,800 MW, Tamil Nadu accounts for a major chunk of the wind power generated in the country.
In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month, IWPN had raised various issues affecting wind power generators in Tamil Nadu, including outstanding dues and evacuation problems.
Wind power already generated is not evacuated due to absence of 230 Kv and 400 Kv sub-stations, it noted.
“Even though 1,000 MW of wind mills have come in 2010-11, they have to remain idle during high windy time of May to October, 2011 when domestic, industrial and agriculture (segments) are starved of energy,” the letter had said.