National Electricity Policy Notes
No:1. The draft National Electricity Policy (NEP),
2021 which, under the Electricity Act, 2003 is a guiding policy for planning
power generation, supply and investment, has emphasised on increasing private
participation, especially in power distribution.
Key features of National Electricity Policy 2021 are the following :
No:1. The NEP has introduced power quality, micro
grids, pump hydro storage, real time power markets.
No:2. Draft NEP says, “This sector is marred with many
inefficiencies like high AT&C losses, inadequate system planning, poor
upkeep and maintenance of equipment etc. which are affecting the financial
health of the discoms, and leading poor consumer satisfaction.”
No:3. NEP has noted that despite the Central
government connecting 100 per cent households in the country with the national
power supply grid, quality of power and duration remains an issue.
No:4. There is a need to strengthen the distribution
system to ensure 24x7 power supply.
No:5. Evolve a unified scheme for development of
adequate distribution infrastructure wherein central assistance is linked to
reform milestones of the states.
No:6. The Union Budget 2021 announced a revamped
reform scheme for discoms, entailing Rs. 3·05 trillion expenditure. The scheme
would put the onus on the states to formulate their own action plans and funds
would be disbursed accordingly.
No:7. Public private partnership in electricity
distribution is one of the effective ways to improve efficiency, enhance
consumer satisfaction and reduce financial losses of the discoms.
No:8. Franchisee model being one of the PPP models has
emerged as a preferred route for introduction of privatisation in the
distribution sector. Another variant of the PPP model could be in the form of a
sub-licensee power distributor for a particular area.
No:9. While India is committed to add more capacity
through non-fossil sources of generation, coal based generation capacity may
still be required to be added in the country, as it continues to be the
cheapest source of generation, though compliance to stricter environment norms
remains a challenge, particularly for older stations.
No:10. The
draft has been floated in a public forum by the ministry of power on April 28,
2021 for getting comments from stakeholders.
No:11. The NEP has introduced several new concepts
starting from the need of micro grids in remote areas to having a real time
power market and need for investment in pump hydro generation.
No:12. With the rising capacity of renewable energy
generation and lack of balancing sources of energy such as gas and large hydro,
the NEP has batted for realising the potential of pump hydro storage. The NEP
noted that the country has a potential of 96,524 MW of pump hydro storage and
of that barely 4,785 MW has been out up.
No:13. For utilising power generation at the source
end and reducing power supply wastage, the NEP has suggested that power
distribution companies (discoms)
No:14. Should explore the possibility of micro grids,
especially in areas prone to natural disasters. These micro grids should
preferably be powered with renewable sources of energy.
Suggested : Who is Lord Parshvanath?
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