In a crucial meeting held yesterday, Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy, RK Singh, chaired a session to assess the advancements made in the Inter-State Transmission System across the country. The meeting focused on addressing the challenges encountered during project execution and emphasized the significance of robust transmission infrastructure in achieving India’s ambitious renewable energy targets.
With the nation committed to sourcing 50% of its installed electricity generation capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, Minister RK Singh underscored the essential role of transmission infrastructure development. As the country’s installed power capacity is projected to exceed 777 GW and peak demand is expected to reach 335 GW by 2030, a comprehensive transmission plan has been devised to evacuate 537 GW of renewable energy capacity. This plan, released by the Power Minister in December 2022, accounts for the renewable energy potential in different regions of the country.
During the review of the Inter-State Transmission System, Minister Singh assessed the progress of projects in the planning, bidding, and implementation phases. Detailed discussions were held to identify and address bottlenecks encountered during project execution, and the Minister issued directives to resolve these issues promptly to ensure early completion.
He emphasized the need for transmission planning to encompass emerging requirements, including the production of Green Hydrogen, the expansion of conventional generation capacity to meet the growing power demand and the development of offshore wind generation projects in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. The Inter-State Transmission Plan for key states rich in renewable energy, namely Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra, was thoroughly reviewed.
Additionally, the meeting delved into an in-depth examination of the Inter-State and Intra-State Transmission Plans for states in the North Eastern Region. The aim is to fulfill the power demand of the region by 2030 while facilitating the evacuation of power from upcoming hydroelectric projects in the area.
Singh stressed that the transmission plan must be adaptable and responsive to the changing needs of the sector. He emphasized the importance of developing transmission infrastructure ahead of generation to ensure seamless power evacuation without any constraints.
The high-level meeting was attended by the Secretary of the Ministry of Power, the Chairperson of the Central Electricity Authority, and other key officials from the Central Transmission Utility, POWERGRID, REC, PFC, and Ministry of Power.
