A 300 kw self-sustained Green Hydrogen plant will be installed by Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Limited (KREDL) to attract more investment to the Green Hydrogen sector, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced in his Budget speech on Friday.
The plant will be installed on a pilot basis at a cost of ₹10 crore using Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) funds. While expressing the government’s commitment to make Karnataka a pioneer in energy production, this year’s Budget focussed majorly on renewable energy projects. “Renewable energy constitutes 63% of the total energy generated in the State,” he said.
He also a proposed Ultra High Voltage (UHV) transmission lines of 765 kV capacity, which will be laid by Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) to enhance the production of renewable energy on a larger scale and to transmit that energy to load centres and Green Hydrogen hubs.
Another pilot project mentioned in the Budget was to install microgrid solar units of 500 KW battery storage capacity in one backward village in the jurisdiction of each electricity supply company (Escom). This will also be implemented by KREDL with the aim of making these villages self-reliant.
With an allocation of ₹23,159 crore for the sector, which was 6% of the total budget compared to 7% last year, Mr. Siddaramaiah also said that the installed capacity in the State will be increased from 32,000 MW to 60,000 in the next seven years.
In a push to sustainable mobility, 2,500 electric vehicle charging stations will be set up in the State under Public-Private Partnership and 100 will be set by escoms at a cost of ₹35 crore.
