Punjab to come up with energy action plan; to achieve target of 2,500 MW renewable energy

PTI

Chandigarh, October 22

Punjab will soon come up with an energy action plan aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by adopting new and innovative clean energy technologies, an official said.

Sumeet Jarangal, the chief executive of Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA), said the state-owned agency is striving hard to achieve the target of 2,500 MW renewable energy capacity in Punjab and the energy action plan will facilitate all stakeholder departments to implement energy efficiency and renewable energy in their institution at the state level.

He was addressing a capacity building workshop on training needs assessment for the state energy action plan here on Friday, according to an official release here.

Different departments of the state, which were till date merely the energy consumers, will now play a pivotal role in the energy transition and development of the future energy systems as the state is on the journey towards energy transition to ensure a clean and green environment, he added.

The workshop was aimed to facilitate wider discussions on the strategy paper and gather the valuable inputs of the stakeholder departments, said the chief executive.

The deliberations of the workshop were useful to facilitate wider discussions on strategy paper, proposed training framework and finalize the action plan for capacity building in the state.

A comprehensive blueprint will be developed for necessary training and capacity building programmes on the basis of inputs received from the workshop, he stated.

This will be followed by creation of a network of training institutions and trainers to identify, plan, and roll out training programmes for various aspects of energy planning and implementation.

He said Punjab will identify potential areas for training of government departments and officials for the multi-sectoral energy planning.

The team has already undertaken a survey to understand such needs through interviewing various officers in different departments in Punjab.

A strategy document on 'training and capacity needs framework' has been developed for the state of Punjab based on findings from this survey, he added.