AP partners with WEF for energy security

Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh has just struck a strategic partnership with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to enhance energy security, accelerate transition to green energy, and build cyber-resilient power infrastructure. Towards this end, the state government signed an MoU with WEF on Saturday during the CII Partnership Summit, closing a deal for the launch of a 'Centre for Energy and Cyber Resilience in Andhra Pradesh'.

Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu said the collaboration aims to create a future-ready ecosystem powered by technology, sustainability, and secure digital infrastructure.Stressing that modern power systems must be efficient, affordable, and cyber-protected, he opined that energy security can no longer rely only on physical assets but must integrate advanced digital defence architecture.

Naidu said Andhra Pradesh has set an ambitious target of 160 gigawatt of green energy, positioning the state on track to becoming a major renewable powerhouse. “The objective is to produce and supply electricity at the lowest possible cost using advanced technologies, including AI,” he said, while emphasising the need to also reduce transmission losses, improve operational efficiency, and drive consumption growth across agriculture, industry, commerce, and households. He highlighted that the state has accelerated the rooftop solar rollout PM Suryaghar Yojana as part of this clean-energy mission.

The Chief Minister said that integrating digital protection frameworks would be critical to safeguard power assets, considering that energy infrastructure is emerging as a key national-security frontier. “Cybersecurity systems must evolve alongside power reforms. We are glad WEF has agreed to partner in building resilient, technology-driven solutions,” he said.

IT and HRD Minister Nara Lokesh said that affordable and high-quality power supply is a non-negotiable factor for large-scale data-centre investments, particularly as Andhra Pradesh works to operationalise its earlier plan of establishing a 6 GW capacity data center ecosystem in Vizag.

“Producing low-cost, reliable energy for high-consumption digital infrastructure is a challenge, but also a major opportunity. If power costs remain high, data-center operating economics collapse,” he said, while amplifying that the upcoming resilience center would support secure, efficient, and globally competitive power systems.