SHIMLA: Government of Himachal Pradesh and Oil India Limited (OIL) inked an MoU for harnessing and developing new and renewable energy sources (NRES) in the State.
The MoU was signed by Director, Energy, Harikesh Meena on behalf of the State Government and Director (operations), Pankaj Kumar Goswami on behalf of the company in the presence of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
Chief Minister said the Company would explore the possibilities of setting up floating solar power plants in various water reservoirs and the ground-mounted solar power projects in the state.
He said that the OIL can also set up a plant for producing green hydrogen and green ammonia on a pilot basis.
He said that Himachal Pradesh has abundance in green energy and opportunity in producing green hydrogen and the state government has taken various initiatives to harness this potential.
He asked the officers of the company to send a team of experts next week to inspect the sites for implementing these projects.
He said that a review meeting would be held on 26th May, 2023 to discuss the progress of the proposed projects.
Sukhu said the collaboration will also focus on NRES knowhow, including solar energy, green hydrogen, compressed biogas, geothermal energy and wind energy.
The partnership would also facilitate the setting up of new projects in the State, which would create job opportunities and contribute to the overall economic growth of the region, he added.
Industries Minister, Harshwardhan Chauhan, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Sunder Singh Thakur, CMD, Oil India Limited, Dr. Ranjit Rath, Principal Advisor to the Chief Minister, Ram Subhag Singh, Chief Secretary, Prabodh Saxena, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Bharat Khera, Secretary, MPP & Power, Rajiv Sharma were also present.
