Wednesday, August 21, 2013: With the view to facilitate the flow of renewable energy into its grid electricity, India has reserved money worth US$7.9 billion. According to Ratan Watal, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the corridor will be constructed across seven states in the coming five to six years.
The RTCC reported, “The project will be implemented with the assistance of Germany which has promised to provide developmental and technical assistance of €1 billion as soft credit,” said Watal, at the sidelines of “National Consultation of Stakeholders regarding Development of Offshore Wind Energy in India.” Moreover, government officials stated that the grid will be provided support by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and India’s National Electricity Fund.
The 12th Five Year Plan envisages connecting the southern grid to the national grid by the year 2014 with purpose of creating the single largest transmission grid in the world.
During times of grid failure, diesel generators supply electricity. During the last five years, wind and solar capacity has doubled to prevent blackouts in the country. Reliable grid infrastructure capacity has no meaning if electricity requirements are not met where it is needed.
Remote Village Electrification Programme has been launched by the government in remote rural locations, where access to the grid is infeasible.
