On Thursday, the government invoked its special powers and directed the electricity regulator to clear 66.5 transmission schemes identified for 66.5 GW renewable energy projects.
The directions under section 107 of Electricity Act, aimed at fast-tracking deployment of transmission infrastructure for renewable energy plants, includes according ‘national importance’ status to such transmission lines and deferring fulfilment of requirement of long term access (LTA) applications and associated bank guarantees till the renewable generation projects are awarded to a successful bidder.
The regulatory procedure of LTA and connectivity will be followed by the successful bidder.
A proposal has been cleared by R K Singh, the Minister of Power and Renewable Energy, for an early regulatory approval by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission for transmission schemes identified for 66.5 GW national renewable energy mission projects, an official statement said.
The schemes, identified by Renewable energy ministry in consultation with the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and central transmission utility, comprises around 28 GW under phase-I and around 38.5 GW under phase-II as part of a mission to set up 175 GW renewable energy capacity by 2022.
In May 2019 about 80 GW of renewable energy generation has been commissioned and the balance 95 GW has to come up in the next three years.
The statement also said that the gestation period of renewable energy projects is shorter than for transmission facilities, it is thus necessary that the present system of transmission planning and implementation for renewable energy projects is carried out in mission mode. Government invokes special powers to speed up transmission lines for renewable energy