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₹12k-cr green energy corridor
Cabinet committee on economic affairs chair by the prime minister has approved the Rs. 12,031 crore second phase of setting of transmission project for supplying electricity from renewable energy as a part of India's green energy push
- Green energy corridors: They are being set up in two phases with the second phase of the transmission corridors to supply 20 GW of renewable energy to the national grid from the seven states of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
- Pledge at COP-26:The efforts have been undertaken by the government in backdrop of India’s pledge at the Glasgow Summit (COP-26) which includes-
- Meeting 50% of India’s energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030
- Increasing non-fossil fuel power generation capacity to 500GW by the end of this decade.
- To cut India’s total projected carbon emission by 1 billion tonnes by 2030
- Reducing the carbon intensity of the nation’s economy by less than 45% by the end of the decade and net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.
- Maintenance of the national grid: It has been ensured by the government that this huge injection of electricity in the grid from infirm sources like solar and wind does not pose any threat to the national grid.
- These corridors form a significant component to ensure that the grid frequency always remains within the 49.90-50.05 Hz (hertz) band.
- Automatic Generation Control (AGC) has also been made operational that sends signals to power plants every four seconds to maintain frequency, thereby ensuring reliability of India’s power system.
- Timeline and funding of the project: The transmission systems would be created over a period of 5 years from FY 2021-22 to 2025-26.
- The Central Financial Assistance (CFA) would help in offsetting the intra-state transmission charges thereby keeping the power costs down
- Implementation agencies: The state-run Power System Operation Corp Ltd (Posoco) oversees the country’s critical electricity load management functions through the National Load Dispatch Centre (NLDC) & a set of regional load dispatch centres (RLDCs) as well as the state load dispatch centres (SLDCs).
- India has 33 SLDCs, 5 RLDCs for the 5 regional grids that form the national grid & 1 NLDC.
- India has achieved its NDC target with total non-fossil based installed energy capacity of 157.32 GW which is 40.1% of the total installed electricity capacity.
- Out of this, solar, wind and hydropower accounts for 48.55 GW, 40.03 GW and 51.34 GW respectively.
- India’s nuclear energy based installed electricity capacity stands at 6.78 GW.
- The 63 GW of renewable energy capacity is under various phases of construction and installed power capacity from non-fossil fuels is expected to go up to 66% by 2030.
- According to the Central Electricity Authority, the country’s power requirement would be 817GW by 2030, more than half of which would be clean energy.
Building Green Infra
- Transformation to electric transport: India’s emphasis on expressways and urban metro rail to underpin its Covid-19 recovery, however the obsession with highways has to be passé, in a world moving to electric public transport.
- Even if it’s about roads clogged with cars powered by renewable electricity, new investments in the highway sector must focus on building fast-charging stations, rather than laying asphalt.
- Focus on investment in electric based transport systems: The goal of an electric road-based public transport system at a cost and convenience that eliminates the desire to use personal transport needs large investment.
- Lessons from other countries: In recent years, municipal infrastructure has been the largest component of infrastructure investment in China.
- Making a future-ready urban transport system: An Indian technology mission that focuses on electric buses and charging infrastructure in all million-plus cities would boost domestic investment in such technologies and make India a global supplier.
- Focus on water & waste water sector: In addition to transport, the water and wastewater sector also need resources.
- Schemes like AMRUT 2.0, the urban Jal Jeevan Mission are already ambitious interventions.
- The water infrastructures must, however, take climate resilience into account, and plan for extremely variable supply.
- Maintenance of infrastructure: Focusing on maintenance of assets might accelerate our Covid-19 recovery.
- The rural road network, built in the last two decades, is facilitating the transition from farms to factories and therefore needs to be in good condition.
- Refurbishing urban infrastructure in the larger cities is an obvious need and avoids the embedded carbon of new constructions.
- Maintenance also has the benefit of being quick start and labour intensive, qualities that would contribute to a rapid recovery, as compared to new projects, which could later help in sustaining the growth beyond the immediate recovery period.
India’s Road to Net Zero
- Hydrogen energy mission: India has announced a Hydrogen Energy Mission for grey and green hydrogen.
- Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme: In energy efficiency, the market-based scheme of Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) has avoided 92 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions
- Reforms in transportation sector:
- FAME Scheme: India is accelerating its e-mobility transition with the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles Scheme to support the electric vehicle market development and enable its manufacturing ecosystem to achieve self-sustenance.
- The government has also announced a slew of incentives for customers and companies to promote e-vehicles.
- Switch to BS-VI emission norms: India leapfrogged from Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI) emission norms
- Voluntary vehicle scrapping policy: it has been undertaken to phase out old and unfit vehicles
- Railway reforms: Indian Railways is targeting the full electrification of all broad-gauge routes by 2023.
- Benefits from various schemes:
- Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY):it has benefitted 88 million households with LPG connections.
- UJALA Scheme: More than 367 million LED bulbs have been distributed under the scheme, leading to energy savings of more than 47 billion units of electricity per year and a reduction of 38.6 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
Road ahead
- Public private partnership: The role of the private sector is crucial to India’s journey along a credible pathway of low-carbon development to eventual net zero.
- Since industries also contribute to GHG emissions, any climate action would need reduction or offset of emissions emerging from industrial & commercial activities.
- Role of companies in the service sector: the transition is relatively easier for companies operating in the services sector.
- With efficient use of energy across all their operations, expanding the use of renewable energy, and working with supply chain partners, service companies can reduce emissions.
- Service companies can become carbon neutral by sourcing 50% of their electricity from renewable sources.
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