New Delhi: Urging the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd. (NHPC) to explore the possibilities for setting up Compressed Biogas (CBG) project in the state, Punjab New and Renewable Energy Sources Minister Aman Arora said that being an agrarian state Punjab has huge quantities of agro-residue resources to produce clean energy. Asia’s largest CBG plant has already been commissioned in Sangrur district.

A delegation of NHPC led by its Independent Director Prof. (Dr) Amit Kansal has called on the New & Renewable Energy Sources Minister at PEDA Bhawan here, and expressed keen interest in investing in the solar and hydro energy sector.

Executive Director NHPC Regional Office, Chandigarh Surjeet Kumar Sandhu and CEO AK Pathak gave a presentation about the ongoing projects of the NHPC across the country. They apprised the Minister that NHPC’s Hydro, Solar and Wind power projects have already been operational in Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Andaman & Nicobar and even across the border in Bhutan and Nepal.

Assuring the delegation all possible support from the state government side,  Aman Arora said that Punjab has a huge potential in non-conventional energy sources and Chief Minister S. Bhagwant Mann led state government is fully committed to promote clean and green energy to save the environment. PEDA has also allocated 42 additional CBG projects of total capacity 492.58 tonne per day (TPD) based on paddy straw and other agro-residue to develop a lasting and sustainable solution to prevent stubble burning.

Chief Executive PEDA Dr. Sumeet Jarangal, Director MP Singh, General Manager (Electrical) NHPC SP Rathore and other senior officials of PEDA were also present in the meeting.