Chief Secretary GC Pati on Tuesday advised all concerned to integrate conventional power distribution with non-conventional power generation and distribution through a grid system for better results.
“Integration of conventional and decentralised non-conventional power generation and distribution will facilitate expansion of grid system to remote areas, create opportunities for entrepreneurship in rural areas and help in generation of clean and renewable energy,” Pati said while presiding over a consultative workshop on ‘Fast tracking of sustainable energy for human development’ at the State Secretariat here.
Pati directed Science and Technology Secretary Surendra Kumar, who was present at the meeting, to constitute a technical committee which would suggest the Government on technological options, institutional arrangement and financial implications of this integration.
Besides, he also asked the department to identify different sectors and activities in which non-conventional energy can be applied cost- effectively. This consultative workshop was organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) with support from UNDP and UKAID.
TERI Director IH Rehman made a presentation on renewable energy for human development in Odisha. According to him, the average electrification rate in Odisha is 88 per cent against average of 76 per cent across developing countries.
While around 76 per cent of the State’s households use bio-mass for cooking, such dependence adds to the indoor air pollution and disease burden, Rehman said. “Domestic use of clean and renewable energy will reduce these burdens and will contribute towards environmental conservation,” the TREI Director said.
Pati emphasized that a definite action plan be prepared with technical inputs from OREDA and TERI in encourage households towards use of solar hitting system and modern clean cooking devices.