India needs 4.75 tn investment in transmission infrastructure – EQ
In Short : India requires an investment of approximately 4.75 trillion rupees in enhancing its transmission infrastructure. This substantial investment is crucial for upgrading and expanding the country’s electrical grid, ensuring efficient and reliable transmission of power to meet the growing demands of its economy and population.
In Detail : India’s power grid expands to integrate 40 GW renewables by 2027, with major transmission and reactive power infrastructure upgrades
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has revealed a proposal to strengthen the country’s transmission system by investing Rs 4.75 trillion by 2027. The draft national electricity plan (Volume II) contains this ambitious plan, which intends to make it easier to integrate renewable energy sources into the national system.
CEA, the nodal agency for power system planning, has projected a peak electricity demand of 277.2 gigawatt (GW) by 2026-27. To meet this rising demand, India is aggressively pursuing renewable energy generation, with an estimated 40 GW of additional wind and solar capacity expected to come online by March 2027.
However, the draft noted that “a strong and contemporary transmission network is necessary to seamlessly integrate this surge of renewable energy into the current grid.” In light of this, the CEA has suggested expanding the nation’s substation transformation capacity by 7,10,940 megavolt ampere (MVA) and adding 1,23,577 kilometre (Km) of transmission lines.
This significant expansion, encompassing voltage levels of 220 kilovolt (Kv) and above, marks a substantial increase over the past decade.
Furthermore, the plan acknowledges the crucial role of reactive power support in maintaining grid stability, particularly with the integration of variable renewable energy sources. To address this, the CEA has proposed the strategic placement of bus reactors, line reactors and static compensators (STATCOMs) across the grid.
Notably, the plan also envisions reserving space at upcoming substations, especially those near renewable energy projects.
Additionally, the draft national electricity plan (Volume II) is currently open for public consultation, with stakeholders and industry experts invited to submit their comments and recommendations by 26 March 2024.
