Panaji, September 14, 2014 …. Minister for Power Shri Milind Naik has said that the total availability of power for Goa is 430 MW, while the state’s maximum peak demand for the year is around 540 MW.
The Minister was speaking at the conference of State as well as Union territory ministers for Power and Mines in New Delhi recently.
Shri Naik said Goa was not given deserved allocation of its power requirement in the past, and as a consequence the state has always faced power deficit to the tune of 100 MW. I expect that the present central Government will ensure that at least 100 MW power from unallocated capacities of coal base or nuclear base stations such as Kaiga nuclear power plant, would be allocated to Goa during 10 hours to 24 hours time block.
Shri Naik said this would help meet Goa’s immediate power needs as also aide in attracting industries in otherwise underdeveloped areas of the state, which in turn help reduce Goa’s dependency on mining activities.
Informing that almost 99.5 percent households in Goa have been electrified, the Minister for Power said the power sector in Goa has been progressing in leaps and bound and the state government is committed to make available qualitative power to all the consumers, within the frame rules of the Regulatory Commission. “at the same time, Goa being one of the key tourist destinations, a venue for various sports and cultural events such as permanent venue for the International Film Festival of India and also expecting to restore its mining activities soon, there is an urgent need to augment the power supply to the state” he urged.
It is also pertinent to point out that the coastal area of Goa are very much prone to interruptions on account of gusty winds and swaying of trees etc and hence the state is in the process of identifying the problematic 11 kv feeders, which are very prone to such interruptions and subsequently, replace them by underground cabling/ aerial bunched cabling” shri Naik also mentioned, noting that the sub transmission lines in the hilly terrain of the state are also subjected to interruptions on account of falling of trees and hence are being proposed for aerial bunched cabling.
The total requirement for the same will be around Rs 1000 crore to convert 11 kv overhead lines into underground cabling/ serial bunched cabling, which shall improve the quality of supply. The Minister for Power said, observing that the initial requirement for the same, for the financial year 2014-15 is around Rs 150 crore, and for the next financial year the requirement is estimated to be Rs 200 crore.
The central government is being requested to extend the financial support in the form of grants for the above planned works. He stated pointing out that Goa has also formulated a scheme for strengthening the intrastate transmission and sub transmission schemes to meet the consumer demands.
It was further stated that there are altogether 11 power related schemes already formulated for Goa and the proposal to appoint a consultant to study the feasibility and cost estimates is under the consideration of the state government.
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal and New Renewable Energy Shri Piyush Goayal presided over the conference.
