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Overwhelmed by the “rapid pace” of applications for connectivity from renewable energy companies in the Kutch region of Gujarat, the government is planning to double the power evacuation capacity to 30 GW.
This is also in sync with the request of Gujarat Power Corporation Ltd.
According to sources, the government had planned for transmission systems to evacuate 15 GW of renewable energy from Khavda, Kutch, in three phases. The project for evacuating 3 GW in phase-I is under implementation; bidding is on for 5 GW under phase-II.
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Even as phase-III (7GW), costing Rs 7,327 crore, was being discussed, applications for connectivity exceeded 18.6 GW. So transmission capacity for another 15 GW is being planned in phases IV and V for 7 GW and 8 GW, respectively.
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This was discussed at the 13th meeting of the National Committee on Transmission (NCT), an expert group set up by the Ministry of Power, on May 12.
At Khavda, 27,700 MW of wind-solar hybrid projects are coming up across 72,400 hectares. These projects include 9,500 MW of Adani Green Energy, 4,750 MW of NTPC, 3,325 MW of Gujarat State Electricity Corporation, 2,735 MW of Gujarat Industrial Power Company, and 4,750 MW of Sarjan Realities Ltd.
The Rs 7,327-crore phase-III project, for evacuating 7 GW of power, is to be divided into three packages of Rs 3,036 crore, Rs 1,645 crore and Rs 2,645 crore, with several elements under each. These are to be implemented through the ‘tariff-based competitive bidding’ route and will take 24 months to complete.
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The Khavda project is one of several transmission projects under discussion by NCT, to provide adequate grid support for the growing renewable energy capacity in the country.
As on April 30, India had wind power capacity of 42,868 MW and solar power capacity of 67,077 MW. The government plans to auction 50 GW of wind, solar and hybrid projects every year for the next seven years, adding 350 GW to the country’s renewable energy capacity, in line with its international commitment to have 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030.
But wind and solar do not promise a steady stream of power. A strong grid, buttressed with adequate storage capacity, is the need of the hour. The planned transmission projects have elements to handle the intermittent nature of renewable power, experts say.
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