Wind Energy

Andhra Pradesh, a solar power hub,

Faced with acute shortage of power due to the ongoing strike in Telangana region, solar power could turn a reliable source of energy for the state in the days to come, experts said. SRMS would be located at Gurazala (Guntur), Vizianagaram, Rajahmundry, Chittoor and Adilabad.

All the stations would start working shortly as the ground work on installing the equipment has been completed. Since the availability of reliable solar radiation data is vital for the success of solar energy installations, the government is acting fast on setting up SRMS across the country, sources said.

As per the initial proposal, the state government wants to generate at least 2,000 MW power from solar power stations in next four years. Though SRMS would be run by local engineers of Non-conventional Energy Development Corporation of Andhra Pradesh (Nedcap), it would be set by the Centre for wind power technology, a national arm of new and renewable energy ministry.

"SRMS will regularly monitor the local environmental conditions including rains, temperatures, radiation, wind direction, wind power, speed of the light, humidity and other characteristics that would be required by the power generating stations," K Srinivasa Rao, district manager, Nedcap, told TOI. The district administration has identified 400 acres of land near Gurazala for the purpose.

"We are ready to grant more land if required for power generating stations," said minister Kanna Lakshminarayana. Gurazala SRMS would be the first one to be operationalized in the state. While solar power is produced in three modes — concentrating solar thermal power, photovoltaic and film base — PV-based units are considered to be ideal.

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