Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy presided over a meeting in Jaipur, Rajasthan on 13th July, 2023, to assess the progress of the Inter-State Transmission System in the country. The Inter-State Transmission System plays a vital role in meeting the electricity requirements of citizens by facilitating the transfer of power from power-surplus to power-deficit areas.
With the aim of achieving 50% of installed electricity generation capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030, the Power Minister highlighted the significance of developing the associated transmission infrastructure. As India’s installed power capacity is expected to exceed 777 GW by 2030, with a peak demand of 335 GW, 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, takes into account the renewable energy potential in different parts of the country.
During the review of the Inter-State Transmission System, the focus was on the progress of projects in the planning, bidding, and implementation phases. Detailed discussions were held on the challenges encountered in project execution, following which the Minister issued directives to resolve these issues for early project completion.
It was also emphasised that transmission planning should consider emerging requirements such as the production of Green Hydrogen, an increase in conventional generation capacity to meet rising power demand, and offshore wind generation in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. The Inter-State Transmission Plan for key states abundant in renewable energy, including Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra was also examined.
Furthermore, the Inter-State and Intra-State Transmission Plans for states in the North Eastern Region were thoroughly reviewed to meet the region’s power demand by 2030 while simultaneously evacuating power from upcoming hydro projects in the area.
The Minister directed that the transmission plan should be dynamic and adaptable to the changing needs of the sector. He emphasized to the relevant departments that the development of transmission infrastructure must precede generation to ensure there are no constraints in power evacuation.
The 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 the Ministry of Power.
