NATIONAL LAUNCH OF CO-GENERATION ASSOCIATION OF INDIA
UPTO 5000 MW POTENTIAL FROM
CO-GENERATION
The Co-generation
Association of India (COGEN) was jointly launched at the national
level by the Minister of Power Shri Suresh Prabhu and the Minister
of State (Independent Charge) for Non-Conventional Energy Sources,
Shri M.Kannappan here today.
In his key note
address, the Minister of Power Shri Suresh Prabhu welcomed the
initiative and said co-generation would increasingly play an important
role in capacity addition in the power sector in the coming decades.
With environmental concerns becoming important and the pressure
of population increasing the pressure on land, renewable sources
of energy have interesting possibilities, the Minister said. Co-generation
will help improve the quality of life while keeping the environment
clean. Shri Prabhu emphasised the role of renewable energy in
adding at least 10% incremental power generation capacity every
year. This is necessary not only for environmental considerations
but also for energy security, he said. Referring to the Electricity
Bill 2001, the Minister said the Bill for the first time would
make generation de-licensed and common access to the transmission
network would be provided to users through payment of wheeling
charges determined by regulators. Commending co-generation, the
Minister said that at Rs.2.5 crore to Rs.3 crore per MW co-generation
cost is not much more than the cost of generating conventional
energy which is Rs.4 crore per MW. The Minister expressed the
hope that the Electricity Bill 2001 would be passed in the monsoon
session of Parliament as all major political parties have shown
support for it.
In his address,
the Minister of State for Non-Conventional Energy Sources, Shri
M.Kannappan said that major incentives are proposed for the co-generation
sector during the 10th plan. Specifically referring
to the bagasse co-generation in the sugar industry, the Minister
said that his Ministry is a strong proponent to project the optimum
potential of this sector to maintain the strength and health of
the sugar industry. Studies have shown that between 3500 MW to5000
MW power can be generated through co-generation in the sugar industry
with maximum potential of 1000 MW each in the states of Maharashtra
and Uttar Pradesh. So far, surplus power of 249 MW in 40 projects
across 6 states has been installed and 600 MW capacity is in the
pipeline, Shri Kannappan said.
In his initial
remarks, the founder and chair person of COGEN India and Member
of Parliament, Shri Sharad Pawar said, co-generation has the capacity
to add 6000 to 10000 MW of additional power in the sugar, fertilizer,
steel , cement and man made fibre industry. Co-generation he said
has hidden environmental and social benefits. In spite of huge
potentials, not much progress has been made over the past two
decades due to pricing issues. Shri Pawar described co-generation
as a clean cost-effective and reliable source of energy.
