India to invest Rs 2 lakh crore for energy projects in deserts by 2022

Indian government has started a long-term plan to tap into India’s solar and wind potential in deserts with an investment of over Rs 2 lakh crore by 2022, reported the Business Standard.

The program will commence with the setting up of renewable energy generation capacity, both solar and wind, along with a mega-scale evacuation infrastructure in four deserts of India, Thar in Rajasthan, Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, Lahul & Spiti in Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh in Jammu & Kashmir.

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Powergrid Corporation, the power transmission utility of India, has already submitted a report on available renewable potentials, cost of projects and their economic viability to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). The report aims at sensitisation of the feasibility of the plan, and further actions are awaited from MNRE.

The implementation of the scheme would require Rs 208,350 crore as investment. This will include Rs 108,000 crore for setting up 11,100 MW generation projects (10,400 Mw of solar and 700 Mw of wind), Rs 19,800 crore for laying transmission lines and Rs 80,000 crore for balancing infrastructure. The overall fund requirement would go up to Rs 16 lakh crore for extending the plan to 2032 and further Rs 43 lakh crore by 2050, estimated the news agency.

This National Desert Mission will be formulated with single window clearance provision as for mega power projects, providing soft loans for initial periods of utilization supported by indigenisation of equipment manufacturing policy.

Central Electricity Authority and Power System Operation Corporation would work on the design and implementation of energy storage technologies while Central Electricity Regulatory Commission would have to work out regulations for the market design.

The economic viability will decide the success of the plan involving such a huge quantum of solar potential. The plan requires setting up of hybrid t transmission systems for evacuation and transmission lines that inter-connect with the desert corridors of states, added the report.

India’s demand for renewable power will be 485,000 MW by 2050. Of this, 300 MW could be developed as part of the desert power plan, out of which 223 MW alone is expected from Thar Desert.

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