V Senthil Balaji, Power Minister of Tamil Nadu, notified the legislative assembly that Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) would build a 4 GW solar park with a battery energy storage facility to satisfy the surging power demand in the state. Additionally, the minister has asked for grants for his department and told the media that TANGEDCO aims to set up solar parks with a battery storage system in all the districts of Tamil Nadu. TANGEDCO will likely set up a 1 MW solar park with a 3 MW battery storage facility at the Kariyapatti substation in Virudhunagar district as a pilot project. The minister also notified the assembly that hydel power parks having 500 MW capacity each would be installed in Kanniyakumari and Theni districts. Meanwhile, a feasibility study will be carried out to set up 11 such projects totalling 7.5 GW capacity in all state districts. As per the minister, the department has an outlay of Rs 12.7 billion to set up smart meters in transformers to measure line losses and aims to install smart meters for consumers. Additionally, the minister said that measures would be taken to ink medium-term contracts for obtaining 1.5 GW electricity at Rs 3.26 per kWh and short-term power purchase agreements with generators. He notified that the department intends to build 18-20 MW gas-based power projects totalling about 2 GW at Ennore. Tamil Nadu has a 3.9 GW capacity of operational solar energy, and 530 MW of solar capacity is under the pipeline as of June 2021. Earlier, the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) inked a memorandum of understanding with TANGEDCO to promote renewable energy projects and fundraising technical expertise. Last month, Tamil Nadu proposed to set up 5,000 solar pumps for which 70% subsidy would be given, as per the state’s first-ever ‘agriculture budget’ recently submitted to the Legislative Assembly. The Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission ordered TANGEDCO to pay Rs 132.8 million in dues, covering interest at 12% per annum to a wind generator within 30 days from the order issuance. Image Source Also read: Govt approves 45 solar parks under solar park scheme