Power sector of Andhra Pradesh
Power sector of Andhra Pradesh is divided into 4 categories namely Regulation, Generation, Transmission and Distribution. Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission is the regulatory body. APGENCO deals with the electricity production and also maintenance, proposes new projects and upgrades existing ones as well. The APGENCO also set up a Special Purpose Vehicle, named as Andhra Pradesh Power Development Company Limited , a joint venture company of APGENCO and IL&FS to set up Krishnapatanam thermal power project.
APTRANSCO is set up for transmission of power. Power distribution in the state is divided into two divisions, namely Eastern Power Distribution Corporation Limited and Southern Power Distribution Corporation Limited, which distributes the power to the households and the industries. APGENCO, APPDCL, NTPC and other private firms contribute to the generation of power in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh has become the second state in India to achieve 100% electrification of all households. Weighted average cost of power generation and purchases is INR 3.16 per kWh which is highest in the country. Andhra Pradesh is also leader by installing 433 nos electric vehicle charging stations out of 927 nos installed in the entire country as on 30 June 2020.
The newly formed Andhra Pradesh Green Energy Corporation Limited, a 100% subsidiary of Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Company Limited, will be the executing agency for setting up the 10 GW solar project in a phased manner and for connecting it to the grid. The 10 GW solar projects would be used to meet the entire agriculture power consumption which will be met during the day time for nine hours duration daily. Andhra Pradesh is also leading in installation of solar power /off grid agriculture pump sets. A renewable energy export policy for Andhra Pradesh was also announced to facilitate the setting up of 120 GW solar, wind and solar-wind hybrid energy parks by using 0.5 million acres of land.
The total installed utility power generation capacity is nearly 24,854 MW in the state as of 31 March 2020 APtransCo has made long term power purchase agreements for 19,068 MW as of 31 March 2019. The per capita electricity consumption is 1234 units with 63,143 million KWh gross electricity supplied in the year 2018–19. The performance of Krishnapatanam thermal power station with super critical pressure technology is not satisfactory even after one year commercial operation as the units rarely operate at rated capacity forcing the state to purchase costly power from day ahead trading in IEX.
Non-renewable
Thermal power
are based on the fuel coal, gas, diesel etc. Public sector undertaking NTPC, state level power generating companies and private firms are engaged in this sector for power generation.Currently operating coal based thermal power plants in Andhra Pradesh are listed below.
Gas fuel-based
The following are the list of presently installed combined cycle gas turbine power plants and diesel engine power plants in the state. However many of these power plants are not operating due to non-availability of natural gas and high cost of liquid fuels.Renewable
Hydroelectric
This is the list of major hydroelectric power plants in Andhra Pradesh.Pumped storage hydroelectricity projects
projects with high water head are the cheap means of converting intermittent renewable power generation sources like solar PV or wind power in to base load supply for round the clock needs through out the year. AP state is endowed with vast PHES potential adequate to utilise its vast solar PV power generation potential to meet ultimate energy requirements of its peak population. AP is considering on a major scale to install PHES projects to make available the surplus wind / solar power during the peak load hours. PHESs also generate income, in addition to hydroelectricity cess/royalty, to the state in the form of water use charges at commercial rates for the evaporation loss or consumptive water from the reservoirs. The area occupied by the high head PHES is less than the area occupied by the equivalent battery energy storage system housed in a three storied building. High head PHES installation cost is less than the cost of land and buildings required to house the equivalent BESS. PHES are more suitable in India where energy and water storage needs are complementary. Unlike the static BESS, the rotating turbo-generator of a PHES will enhance dynamic inertia of the grid which contributes to a stable grid to ride through the power disturbances when power generation in the grid is dominated by the static solar PV power.The water reservoir of a PHES is created by building embankment dams wherever required up to the required height and length. The rock required for building the dams is excavated from the reservoir area. Cheaper drilling and blasting method is extensively used deploying state of the art earth moving equipment because huge quantity of rock excavation is required for the construction of the rock-fill dams.
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A 103,000 MW PHES project is under investigation with upper reservoir, located near Parantapalle hamlet in West Godavari district, with 90 tmcft live storage at 700 m msl full reservoir level. The turkey-nest type upper reservoir is 18 km long from north to south and 1.1 km wide and its water surface area is 16 km2 with 200 m water depth and nearly 90 tmcft live storage. The adjacent Polavaram reservoir at FRL 45 m msl with 194 tmcft gross storage is the lower reservoir as perennial water source. The average water head available is 600 m with a provision to draw 33 tmcft/day from the Polavaram reservoir by the PHES units located in semi open or underground power houses. To run the PHES on daily basis, the lower reservoir is to be kept empty by 33 tmcft below its FRL for holding the water released by PHES in generation mode. Another 33 tmcft is used to compensate the loss of storage capacity in the lower reservoir. This buffer storage is released in to lower reservoir for irrigation, etc needs once in a year at the end of monsoon year and it is replenished at the earliest from the flood water inflows into the lower reservoir. Also seepage and evaporation losses from the upper reservoir are met from the buffer storage sourced from flood waters and not drawn from the lower reservoir storage. The excess buffer storage maintained in this upper reservoir can also serve up to 24 tmcft for other PHESs in the state which are using Godavari basin water and have no buffer storage of their own. The upper reservoir can be further expanded by 3.5 km length on its south side to enhance the live / buffer storage substantially. The PHES project can produce 412 billion KWh at 4000 hours/year or 12 hours/day operation in generation mode by consuming the surplus power generated from the solar and wind power plants during the day time. This PHES can also moderate the severe floods by utilizing empty volume kept in the lower reservoir or operating in pump mode to fill the upper reservoir. In case of emergency / repairs, the entire water storage in the upper reservoir can be emptied safely into the lower reservoir / river within 24 hours by running the PHES in generation mode.
A 77,000 MW PHES project is feasible with an upper reservoir, located on the right bank side within 1000 m distance of Srisailam reservoir, with 87 tmcft live storage at 650 m msl FRL. The reservoir bunds are constructed on 500 m msl contour line by 155 m high and the water surface area of the upper reservoir is nearly 20 km2. The adjacent Srisailam reservoir at FRL 270 m msl with 185 tmcft live storage is the lower reservoir with perennial water source. The average water head available is 340 m with provision to draw water from the Srisailam reservoir by the PHES units located in semi open or underground power houses. The PHES project can produce 308 billion KWh at 4000 hours/year or 12 hours/day operation in generation mode. Only 43.5 tmcft reservoir storage is used for power generation on daily basis and the remaining half kept as buffer storage to compensate the loss of storage in downstream reservoir due to PHES by releasing water once in a year in to the Srisailam reservoir to meet irrigation water requirements. The buffer storage is replenished later at the earliest during the monsoon/floods. This PHES can also moderate the severe floods by utilizing empty volume kept in the lower reservoir or operating in pump mode to fill the upper reservoir.
Notes: Power potential is in generation mode, MDDL→ Minimum Draw Down Level, FRL→ Full Reservoir Level, m msl→ meters above mean sea level. The total water storage includes nearly 361 tmcft irrigation component. PHES water storage is 632 tmcft only. The PHES land requirement is less than 1% of the land required for equivalent electricity generation by Solar PV power plants.
Solar
The state has total installed solar power capacity of 3,471 MW as of 31 January 2020. The state is planning to add 10,050 MW solar power capacity to provide power supply to farming sector during the day time.| Name | Operator | Location | District | Sector | Installed Capacity |
| NP Kunta Ultra Mega Solar Power Project | NTPC | Nambulapulakunta | Anantapur district | central | 900 |
| Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park | NTPC | Pinnapuram | Kurnool district | central | 1,000 |
| Ananthapuramu - II Mega Solar Park | APGENCO | Talaricheruvu | Anantapur district | state | 400 |
| Mudasarlova Reservoir Solar Park | APGENCO | Visakhapatnam | Visakhapatnam district | state | 2 |
| Kadapa Ultra Mega Solar Park | ENGIE | Ponnampalle, Mylavaram mandal | Kadapa district | state | 250 |
| Amruth Solar Power Plant | Amrit Jal Ventures | Kadiri | Anantapur district | private | 1 |
| MEIL solar thermal | Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Limited | Nagalapuram | Anantapur district | private | 50 |
| Galiveedu Solar Park | Marrikommadinne, Galiveedu mandal | Kadapa district | private | 400 | |
| Banaganapalle solar | Welspun | Vemulapadu, Banaganapalle mandal | Kurnool district | private | 70 |
| Hindupur solar | ACME | Patraganipalle, Hindupur mandal | Anantapur district | private | 50 |
| Yadiki solar | Azure Power | Vemulapadu, Yadiki mandal | Anantapur district | private | 50 |
| Kuppam solar | ACME | Morsanapalli, Kuppam mandal | Chittoor district | Private | 40 |
| Parigi solar | First Solar | Beechiganipalle, Parigi mandal | Anantapur district | Private | 40 |
Windpower
The state has total installed wind power capacity of 4,079 MW as on 29 February 2020.| Name | Operator | Location | District | Sector | Unit wise Capacity | Installed Capacity |
| Ramagiri Wind Mills | APGENCO | Ramagiri | Anantapur | State | 10x0.2 | 2.00 |
| Narmada Wind farm | CLP Wind Farms Private Ltd. | Nallakonda | Anantapur | Private | 1 x 50.4 | 50.04 |
| Puthlur RCI Wind farm | Wescare Ltd. | Puthlur | Anantapur | Private | 1 x 20 | 20.00 |
Other utility power plants
In addition to above projects, there are nearly 103 MW small Hydro plants, nearly 490 MW bagasse, industrial & municipal waste, bio-mass co-generation,& bio-mass based power projects, nearly 78.79 mini power plants and nearly 67.20 MW other plants based on isolated gas wells, etc. in private sector. These power plants are not covering captive power capacity in various industries that are not grid connected. In addition, there are innumerable diesel generator sets installed in the state for stand by supply and emergency power supply needs during power outages.