Govt  okays  ₹12,031  crore in green energy push

The government on Thursday cleared a ₹12,031 crore plan to set up infrastructure to transmit electricity from renewable energy projects as it seeks to boost the output from green sources and meet half of the nation’s energy requirement from them by 2030.

The investment approval by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is for the second phase of the green energy corridor, which will help supply 20 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy to the national grid from Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

The project is expected to help India meet the climate commitments it made at the COP-26 summit in Glasgow.

At the November summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to increase the country’s non-fossil fuel power generation capacity to 500GW and meet 50% of its energy requirements from renewable sources by the end of this decade.

The Central Electricity Authority estimates India’s power requirement will rise to 817GW by 2030.

The second phase of the green energy corridor project will involve adding approximately 10,750 circuit km (ckm) of transmission lines and 27,500 mega volt-amperes (MVA) transformation capacity of substations, the ministry of new and renewable energy said in a statement.

“This will promote ecologically sustainable growth and contribute to the long term energy security of the country,” Union power and new and renewable energy minister Raj Kumar Singh said in a tweet.

“Today’s CCEA decision adds strength to India’s efforts of achieving the target of 450GW in the renewable energy sector. Other benefits include a boost to energy security and environment friendly growth,” Modi said in a tweet.

The corridor is expected to help ensure that the huge injection of electricity into the national grid from intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind doesn’t threaten the grid.

The corridor forms an important component of the plan to maintain the grid frequency within the 49.90-50.05 Hz (hertz) band. An automatic generation control recently made operational sends signals to power plants every four seconds to maintain frequency, ensuring the power grid’s reliability.

The project will receive central financial assistance of ₹3,970.34 crore, or a third of the project cost. The transmission systems will be created over a period of five years through 31 March 2026, the government said.

The first phase of the green energy corridor is under implementation in Andhra, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. It will help supply around 24GW of renewable energy by 2022.

The first phase will add 9,700ckm of transmission lines and 22,600MVA capacity of substations at an estimated cost of ₹10,141.68 crore, the statement said. Recently, Union ministries of power and new and renewable energy approved 23 inter-state transmission system projects at an estimated cost of ₹15,893 crore. India has achieved its nationally determined contributions target with a total non-fossil based installed energy capacity of 157.32GW, which is 40.1% of the total installed electricity capacity. Of this, solar, wind and hydropower account for 48.55GW, 40.03GW and 51.34GW, respectively. India’s nuclear energy-based installed electricity capacity stands at 6.78GW.The government on Thursday cleared a ₹12,031 crore plan to set up infrastructure to transmit electricity from renewable energy projects as it seeks to boost the output from green sources and meet half of the nation’s energy requirement from them by 2030.

The investment approval by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is for the second phase of the green energy corridor, which will help supply 20 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy to the national grid from Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

The project is expected to help India meet the climate commitments it made at the COP-26 summit in Glasgow.

At the November summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to increase the country’s non-fossil fuel power generation capacity to 500GW and meet 50% of its energy requirements from renewable sources by the end of this decade.

The Central Electricity Authority estimates India’s power requirement will rise to 817GW by 2030.

The second phase of the green energy corridor project will involve adding approximately 10,750 circuit km (ckm) of transmission lines and 27,500 mega volt-amperes (MVA) transformation capacity of substations, the ministry of new and renewable energy said in a statement.

“This will promote ecologically sustainable growth and contribute to the long term energy security of the country,” Union power and new and renewable energy minister Raj Kumar Singh said in a tweet.

“Today’s CCEA decision adds strength to India’s efforts of achieving the target of 450GW in the renewable energy sector. Other benefits include a boost to energy security and environment friendly growth,” Modi said in a tweet.

The corridor is expected to help ensure that the huge injection of electricity into the national grid from intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind doesn’t threaten the grid.

The corridor forms an important component of the plan to maintain the grid frequency within the 49.90-50.05 Hz (hertz) band. An automatic generation control recently made operational sends signals to power plants every four seconds to maintain frequency, ensuring the power grid’s reliability.

The project will receive central financial assistance of ₹3,970.34 crore, or a third of the project cost. The transmission systems will be created over a period of five years through 31 March 2026, the government said.

The first phase of the green energy corridor is under implementation in Andhra, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. It will help supply around 24GW of renewable energy by 2022.

The first phase will add 9,700ckm of transmission lines and 22,600MVA capacity of substations at an estimated cost of ₹10,141.68 crore, the statement said. Recently, Union ministries of power and new and renewable energy approved 23 inter-state transmission system projects at an estimated cost of ₹15,893 crore. India has achieved its nationally determined contributions target with a total non-fossil based installed energy capacity of 157.32GW, which is 40.1% of the total installed electricity capacity. Of this, solar, wind and hydropower account for 48.55GW, 40.03GW and 51.34GW, respectively. India’s nuclear energy-based installed electricity capacity stands at 6.78GW.