Why in news
- Union Cabinet approved a ₹1.86 lakh crore electricity grid upgrade scheme under Green Energy Corridor Phase-III.
- The scheme aims to evacuate 135 GW of renewable energy and establish 50 GWh of battery energy storage capacity.
Key terms
Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding
A competitive process where developers bid lowest electricity transmission tariffs to win infrastructure projects.
Battery Energy Storage System
Electro-chemical storage technologies that store excess renewable power and release it during peak demand hours.
Renewable Evacuation
The process of transporting generated renewable electricity from remote generation nodes to load centers via power grids.
Intra-State Transmission System
Power transmission networks built and maintained within a single state's geographic boundaries.
What is the Green Energy Corridor Scheme?
- National grid integration initiative designed to evacuate power from renewable energy projects into the National Grid.
- Implemented across major RE-rich states through coordinated intra-state and inter-state transmission systems.
Key provisions of Phase-III approval
- Transmission lines will be awarded via Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding (TBCB) to accelerate execution and lower costs.
- Establishes 50 GWh of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to address grid intermittency and seasonal generation variability.
- Provides direct support to renewable energy developers for co-locating battery storage units.
Why it matters
- Addresses transmission bottlenecks restricting large-scale renewable integration into the national electricity grid.
- Crucial for achieving India's non-fossil capacity target of 500 GW by 2030.
Prelims facts
- Green Energy Corridor facilitates grid integration of renewable energy projects.
- Transmission projects under Phase-III will be allocated via Tariff-Based Competitive Bidding.
Mains discussion
- Role of grid storage and high-capacity transmission corridors in mitigating renewable power intermittency.
Source: Economic Times
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