~41,369-cr transmission projects on offer soon

With these, RE connectivity and private participation will get a fillip

The Centre will soon offer 44 new power transmission projects worth ~41,369 crore with most projects under the ‘Green Energy Corridors’ (GEC) plan.

These projects would evacuate close to 38 Gw of renewable energy from the Western and Northern parts. Such a large scale of transmission projects under the bidding mode has been offered after a hiatus of at least three years.

GEC is an alternative transmission system for renewable energy (RE) power projects. The first phase of GEC was constructed by state-owned Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL). Bulk of the projects from the second phase were awarded through competitive bidding.

While the earlier two phases aimed at transmission of 175 Gw of RE power, the upcoming phases are for realisation of 450 Gw of RE in this decade, said sector executives.

The upcoming round of project tenders could see participation from leading companies such as Adani Transmission, which plans to increase its green footprint, Sterlite Power, which is IPO bound, and new companies such as Renew Power, which is expanding into transmission from power generation.

PGCIL also participated in the competitive bidding and the Navratna PSU is shifting gears towards RE connectivity and intra-state projects.

The National Committee of Transmission (NCT), formed by the ministry of power, approved these projects to be offered under the ‘tariff-based competitive bidding’ (TBCB). The projects are part of the Centre’s flagship programme of GEC, which aims at connecting renewable energy projects or zones with the national grid.

The proposal, which was approved, has three segments. They are: GEC III for the Western region, which has projects worth ~14,388 crore to evacuate 15 Gw of RE and GEC III Northern region with ~26,465 crore of projects to transfer 20 Gw of RE power. The third tranche of projects is outside the gamut of the GEC corridor.

The highest number of projects are in Rajasthan, which would also see the bigticket ~12,700-crore single project for building a transmission system for evacuating power from the ‘renewable energy zone’ (REZ) in the state.

There are 14 transmission projects being planned for the REZ in Rajasthan.

The next in line is the power transmission system in Khavda, Gujarat, where 7 Gw of RE projects are coming up. The non-gec transmission projects, which aim at system augmentation, are mostly planned for the Jammu & Kashmir region.

There are 10 projects planned for strengthening the existing system or ramping up capacity of the power transmission system in states. These would be in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and the Jammu & Kashmir-leh region.

Sector executives said the competitive bidding would lead to cost reduction as companies jostle for projects through aggressive bidding. “These are largescale projects and the tenders are coming after a long break. Given that RE evacuation is of extreme national importance, we are expecting to witness high interest participation from the private sector,” said an executive.

The last round of power transmission projects for connecting renewable energy zones in 2019 with the national grid saw leading private companies bringing down the project cost by 4050 per cent.

Adani Transmission, Sterlite Power, L&T and Tata Power were in race for ~1,500 crore worth of projects. Of the five GECS offered, Adani Transmission won two, Power Grid got two and Sterlite Power bagged one.

Similarly, in the last round for intra-state connectivity, four projects were offered. Two projects in Uttar Pradesh, totalling ~350 crore, were tendered. Of this, one was won by Adani and the other by PGCIL, with an average cost reduction of 45 per cent in these two projects. Another corridor, connecting Karnataka with Kerala, was won by Sterlite Power by quoting 21 per cent lower tariff.