Odisha: Wind Energy Summit held to achieve clean & green energy target

Bhubaneswar: GRIDCO, a Government of Odisha Undertaking and the nodal agency for development of renewable energy, in collaboration with its technical partner the iFOREST, has, today, successfully convened the ‘Odisha Wind Energy Summit – Investor Round table’ to explore investment opportunities in the wind power sector in the State.

25 key investors across the country have participated in the summit. The summit served as a significant  platform in bringing together key players in the wind power production and manufacturing segment. 

Attending the summit, Chief Secretary, Odisha, Pradeep Kumar Jena, in his keynote address, emphasized the State’s determination to extend comprehensive support to the wind industry for establishing power plants and manufacturing hubs in Odisha. 

Earlier, addressing the inaugural session, Vishal Kumar Dev, Principal Secretary, Finance &  Energy, GoO and Chairman, GRIDCO reiterated the State’s unwavering commitment and endeavor to attract investments for wind energy development in Odisha  aligning with State’s new Renewable Energy Policy (OREP)-2022 and Industrial Policy Resolution -2022.

He also expressed confidence that the summit would certainly serve as a vital stepping-stone in Odisha’s ambitious journey towards accomplishing the prospective, vision and mission of wind energy sector. 

Speaking at the summit, Dinesh Dayanand Jagdale, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, praised the proactive initiatives of the Government of Odisha in translating the mandate of OREP-2022 into reality towards achieving clean & green energy targets.

During the session, the Director General of National Institute of Renewable Energy (NIWE) Dr. Rajesh Katyal gave a presentation and assured all cooperation and technical support from NIWE to harness the full potential of wind power in the state.

In his speech at the session, Bhupinder Singh Poonia, MD, IDCO and IPICOL shared valuable suggestions for growth and sustainability of wind power projects in the State.

During the high level deliberation, the ‘Council on Energy Environment and Water’ (CEEW) presented its findings on Odisha’s wind energy potential by shedding light on the promising opportunities ahead in building a viable wind power sector in the State. The technical partner of GRIDCO; iFOREST, in its’ presentation highlighted Odisha’s readiness to attract and accelerate flow of investment into the wind power sector. At the theme presentation session the key aspects of OREP 2022 were put forth by GRIDCO, while IPICOL highlighted the salient features of the Industrial Policy Resolution (IPR), along with incentives designed to encourage wind sector investors in the state. 

Addressing the concluding session of the Summit, Subhendra Kumar Nayak, Additional Secretary, Industries, Odisha assured the prospective investors to extend department’s full support towards ensuring hassle-free and conducive business environment for them. In the sideline of the summit, the prospective investors had one-to-one meetings with the Senior Government of Odisha officials and officials of State nodal agency GRIDCO, wherein an investment proposal of Rs. 4940 crores was assured by different investors worth 575 MW capacity of Wind energy.  

Among others CMD NALCO, Secretary General, IWTMA, Secretary, WIPPA, MD and Directors of GRIDCO, CMD- OPTCL, MD- OHPC, Programme Director, iForest also participated in the deliberation and contributed their valuable thoughts towards sustainability of wind power sector in the State.  Senior officials from CPSEs like; NTPC, OTPC, NHPC, SJVNL, NCL, NALCO and MCL were also present at the energy summit along with key private players in the industry.