Is the Indian Power Grid All Set for Renewable Energy Integration

Renewable energy is gradually becoming one of the mainstay sources of power in India. As the proportion of renewable sources of power is rising, several initiatives have been proposed to strengthen the overall power scenario. Strengthening of the grid is the top priority. With the government further increasing the target for installations by 2030, provisions have to be made at the grid to accommodate the extra intermittent power supply. Grid stability has always been a big headache for India and with increased installations, the country has to ensure successful and large scale grid integration of renewable energy. The government had also announced strengthening and developing the power transmission network through Green Energy Corridor project.

The ministry of power aims to electrify the whole nation and now a major chunk of this supply will be met by renewable sources of power. Mr. R.K Singh, Minister of State for Power, and New and Renewable Energy, signaled towards moving to “a source-neutral transmission network“, treating all power sources at par on the transmission network.

Source: Business Line

It has also been proposed to forego the exemptions for renewable energy transmission and reduce transmission and distribution losses to under 10% in urban areas and below 15% in rural areas. The inter-state transmission charges would be borne by the players as the portion of renewable energy sources increases in the overall power mix. The government is also targeting to cover 200 high population urban areas with advanced smart grids. In order to improve accountability,  smart and prepaid meter rollout was also announced.

Also, read India Looks At Strengthening Its Transmission Infrastructure To Aid RE Growth

Implications on Coal Power plants

As renewable energy is a more affordable and environment-friendly source of power, coal power producers could face tough times in the future. The thermal power producers would need to adjust their operations accordingly. As renewable sources of energy start integrating into the power grid, the Plant Load Factor (PLF) of coal plants during peak summer months could drop. The ministry is also charting a plan to improve the efficiency levels and performance of existing thermal power plants.