Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh is moving quickly towards adopting green hydrogen and clean energy, with a strong focus on lowering fuel and electricity costs through large-scale renewable energy projects, Chief Secretary K. Vijayanand said on Thursday, reports Hans India.
Addressing a meeting of district collectors, Vijayanand said the state government was working to reduce fuel and power costs by steadily shifting away from fossil fuels such as diesel and petrol. He said the completion of several ongoing energy projects would soon allow consumers to access different fuel and power options at lower prices. Referring to the PM-KUSUM scheme, he said fuel and electricity prices were expected to come down once the projects currently under execution were completed.
The Chief Secretary said the state’s long-term goal was to move firmly towards green energy by using all available sources, including solar, wind and pumped hydro power, while progressing towards net-zero emissions. He said the strategy also focused on ensuring affordable and reliable electricity for farmers, industries and households, and achieving local energy self-reliance through smart grids, microgrids and rooftop solar systems.
Under the PM-KUSUM scheme, projects with a total capacity of 1,162.80 MW have been approved, covering 2,93,587 agricultural pump sets. These works aim to provide farmers with nine hours of free daytime electricity through solar-powered feeders. In addition, rooftop solar projects with a capacity of 1,198.21 MWp have been allocated for 20.5 lakh Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe consumers, with each system averaging about 2 kW. The procurement process has also begun for 27.59 lakh Backward Class consumers with similar rooftop solar systems.
Vijayanand said rooftop solar installations were also planned for government buildings such as schools, colleges, hospitals and offices, with an estimated potential capacity of around 150 MW. He added that a 1.5 GW / 3 GWh Battery Energy Storage System connected to the intra-state transmission network had been set up with support under viability gap funding.
According to the Chief Secretary, these initiatives are expected to result in electricity purchase cost savings ranging from Rs 957 crore to Rs 2,368 crore over the next three years. This could lead to tariff reductions of about Rs 4,635 crore over three financial years at 2026 price levels. He said the average power purchase cost is projected to fall from Rs 4.80 per unit in 2026 to Rs 3.99 per unit by 2029.
He called on district collectors to closely monitor rooftop solar installations, speed up land allocation for PM-KUSUM feeder-level solar projects, and ensure the timely completion of battery energy storage systems.
