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The Maharashtra government has decided to procure 50 per cent of its power from renewable energy generators located within Maharashtra. There are lots of facilitation provisions provided in the amended renewable energy policy. Drones and its thermal imaging features are being used to monitor energy assets and to do away with the manual patrolling of transmission towers. Highlighting this Dinesh Waghmare, CMD, Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Co. Ltd., Government of Maharashtra, share his thoughts at Power Utilities Conclave 2022, organised by Elets technomedia.

Despite various challenges arising due to covid 19, Maharashtra secured number 1 ranking in terms of power generation in the country, said Dinesh Waghmare, CMD, Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Co. Ltd., Government of Maharashtra.

“Notwithstanding the disruption in coal supply chain, Maharashtra managed to generate 9000 Megawatt of electricity and provided 24*7 power supply to the state. In the last financial year, 28000 Megawatts of power were transmitted in Maharashtra which is a record in itself,” highlighted Waghmare adding that state’s biggest distribution company – Maharashtra state electricity distribution company had, till then, transmitted 24000 MW of power.

In the renewable energy sector, he said that they brought some complementary policies like non-agricultural tax exemption for solar and wind generators and also the single window system for renewable energy developers. They also exempted electricity duty for all captive renewable energy generators.

“The Maharashtra government has decided to procure 50 per cent of its power from renewable energy generators located within Maharashtra. There are lots of facilitation provisions provided in the amended renewable energy policy.” he further emphasised.

Speaking on technological intervention taking place in Maharashtra, he said, drones and its thermal imaging features are being used to monitor energy assets and to do away with the manual patrolling of transmission towers. They also have put in place 22 substations for remote monitoring and control. They have also envisaged VSAT system for improving visibility of our substation and transmission lines.

Terming the aggregate technical and commercial losses (AT&C Losses) as the biggest challenge, he said substantial steps were being taken to overcome that. “In the distribution sector, lots of recovery is pending and also the financial status of these distribution companies is not very healthy” he added.

Also Read | Filling Gaps in Power Transmission and Distribution

He added that renewable energy is basically going to be a thrust area for them. They have set a target of 17000 MW of energy to be generated in the next 4-5 years, out of which 12500 MW is going to be from solar energy. According to him, renewable energy integration is also one of the challenges they are facing.

“We are working on revamping the distribution sector scheme. We are leveraging technology like data analytics, drones and AI & ML in this regard. Out of MSEDCL 2.5 crore consumers, we have targeted 1.5 crore for installation of smart prepaid meters which would cost us 11.5 crore rupees. The installation of SCADA systems in major urban areas is also in our focus.” he concluded.

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