India unveils $29.6b plan to upgrade grid for clean power

Bloomberg

India unveiled a 2.44 trillion rupee ($29.6 billion) plan to build transmission lines to connect renewable generation, as it aims to nearly triple its clean-power capacity by 2030.
The project will connect solar plants in the sun-drenched deserts of Rajasthan and Gujarat and wind farms in Tamil Nadu to the national network, the power ministry said in a statement. It will help boost India’s inter-regional transmission capacity from 112 gigawatts to 150 gigawatts by the end of the decade.
A lack of transmission lines has held back renewable electricity in India. As the nation embarks on its path to net zero by 2070, it needs to address this shortfall so that clean power can flow to urban and industrial hubs that are often far from generation sources.
India has a generation capacity of 173 gigawatts from non-fossil fuel sources and plans to almost triple it to 500 gigawatts by 2030. The transmission plan includes building transformers and high voltage lines to carry power long distances, as well as laying submarine cables to ship electricity from offshore wind projects.
The power networks sector welcomed the plan, but sounded a note of caution on how contracts will be awarded. Private transmission companies have been lobbying New Delhi to allocate all projects through competitive bids, rather than the current practice of giving some to state-run Power Grid Corp. of India Ltd. without competition.
“The plan presents a very large opportunity to the industry and is absolutely crucial to India’s renewables ambitions,” said Vijay Chhibber, director general at lobby group Electric Power Transmission Association, which represents the private network companies. “What we still need is a complete clarity on how these projects will be awarded.”

NTPC plans to build
massive nuclear fleet
NTPC Ltd, India’s top power producer, is planning to build a massive nuclear fleet that’ll aid the nation’s push to shift away from coal and curb emissions to hit net-zero by 2070.
The state-run company aims to install 20 to 30 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2040, according to a person familiar with the plans, who requested anonymity to discuss the private proposals and said the target remains tentative. India currently has 22 operational reactors with about 6.8 gigawatts of capacity.
New Delhi-based NTPC is considering deploying small-scale modular reactors, known as SMRs, as part of the strategy. The producer has an overall power fleet of 70 gigawatts, of which more than 80% is coal-fired.
The company will also keep pursuing larger projects in a joint venture with state-run Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd. — which currently operates all of India’s atomic generation capacity — the people said. NTPC has assembled a 15-member team in Mumbai to drive its nuclear ambitions, according to one of the people.
Nuclear power is undergoing a renaissance as Asian and European countries look to decarbonise, deal with a squeeze on natural gas and other fuels following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and aim to bolster their energy independence. China, Japan and South Korea are all looking to build more reactors
NTPC is considering building SMRs of 100 megawatts to 300 megawatts, the people said. The state-run electricity generator is favoring the smaller reactors as they would be quicker to build and easier to adjust to the grid requirements, one of the people said. They can also be installed off-grid in remote areas that lack connectivity.
NTPC is aiming to reduce the share of fossil fuels to nearly 50% of its overall capacity by 2032, compared with about 90% now.