Govt develops 'Energy Action Plan' to ensure generation of world-class electricity in Bengal
In its attempt to produce best quality power, the state government has focused on the renewable energy sector
Kolkata: The state Power department has developed a comprehensive 'Energy Action Plan' in order to generate world-class electricity in Bengal.
The Power department has been exploiting all its resources to ensure that the people here in the state can avail the quality of electricity that is normally found in Western countries. In its attempt to produce best quality power, the state government has focused on the renewable energy sector.
A senior official of the department said through the development of an 'Energy Action Plan', the department aims to produce the best quality electricity, at par with the Western countries, in the next 2-3 years.
"We are venturing into the unknown areas of renewable energy sources and in the future years, there will be a paradigm shift from conventional energy to renewable energy. We are taking all necessary steps to make the whole process more sustainable. How the grid integration will be done remains a big challenge for us," a senior official of the Power department said.
In the last one year, more than 10 power sub-stations have been constructed across the state to maintain better quality of electricity and also to address the voltage problem that has often been reported from some pockets, the official added. In the solar energy sector, Bengal has already achieved a significant growth through various projects.
Stressing on the generation of hydroelectricity, the Bengal government has taken up a number of new initiatives. Several hydroelectric projects are coming up on Teesta river, namely Teesta I, Teesta II, Teesta V, Teesta Intermediate state and Rammam Stage I in Darjeeling, each having a capacity of 80-84 MW.
"The number of hydroelectricity resources is not plenty in Bengal. Despite the challenges, we are trying our best to generate hydroelectricity, which is one of our main focus areas in the state now," the official said.
It may be mentioned here that the Centre, during the Paris Convention in 2015, had vowed to catch up with other developed nations in the field of energy generation and power.
The Centre has also made some commitments before the United Nations, saying that it will achieve the target of producing 40 percent of its power through renewable sources by the end of 2030. The overall carbon emission level in the country will also be reduced within the same period. India has so far been successful in generating 20 percent of its total power through renewable sources.
The country will achieve the goal if all the states give more emphasis on renewable energy, thereby contributing towards the cause. Bengal is one of the states that has done a great deal of work on building infrastructure in the renewable energy sector.
Since the Mamata Banerjee government came to power in the state, there has been a significant infrastructural reform in the energy sector. Power generation from solar energy has been given paramount importance through the launch of the 'Aloshree' project, a brainchild of the Chief Minister.
To this end, solar panels have been set up on the rooftops of various government buildings, schools, colleges and other offices by the Power department.
