In year 2012, a study was conducted by Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) wherein it was found that power evacuation and transmission infrastructure in near vicinities of potential sites was less and therefore, dedicated transmission infrastructure for large scale solar and wind power plants was planned.  The Green Energy Corridor (GEC) report was submitted by PGCIL in FY 2012-13 and the implementation work started, after due approval process, in 2015. GEC comprises of both Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) and Intra State Transmission System (InSTS) along with the setting up of Renewable Energy Management Centre (REMC) and the control infrastructure like, reactive compensation, storage systems, etc. 

Inter-State Transmission System Green Energy Corridor Phase-I

The ISTS GEC project with total 3200 ckm inter-state transmission lines and 17000 MVA substations was commissioned in March 2020. The project was started in year 2015. The project was implemented by PGCIL. The project cost is Rs. 11369 crore with funding mechanism consisting of 30% equity by PGCIL and 70% loan from KfW (EUR 500 Million) & ADB (approx. Rs. 2800 crore). The project was implemented to evacuate approx. 6 GW of RE power. Further, MoP vide letter no.11/64/2014-PG dated 8-01-2015 has assigned works related Transmission schemes for the solar parks viz. Ananthapur (1500 MW), Pavagada (2000 MW), Rewa (750 MW), Bhadla-III (500 MW), Bhadla-IV (250 MW), Essel (750 MW), Banaskantha (700MW) &Fatehgarh (1000 MW) to be implemented by POWERGRID. The transmission system for all 7 Solar parks assigned to POWERGRID have been commissioned. Transmission system for 1000 MW AREPL solar park at Fatehgarh is also commissioned by M/s FBTL through TBCB under ISTS.

 REMC have been installed at the following 11 locations: 

1. REMC-SR (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka SLDCs & SRLDC).
2. REMC-WR (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh SLDCs and WRLDC),

REMC-NR (Rajasthan SLDC, NRLDC and NLDC)

Intra-State Transmission System Green Energy Corridor Phase-I

The InSTS GEC scheme with total target of 9700 ckm intra-state transmission lines and 22600 MVA sub-stations was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in 2015. The InSTS GEC scheme is currently under implementation by the State Transmission Utilities (STUs) of 8 RE rich States, i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan & Tamil Nadu. The project cost is Rs. 10,141.68 crore with funding mechanism consisting of 40% central grant by MNRE (Rs. 4056.67 crore), 40% loan from KfW Germany (EUR 500 Million) and 20% equity by the STUs.

 

The projects are being set up for evacuation of approx. 24 GW of RE power in the above 8 States, of which about 16.4 GW RE has been commissioned and connected to the grid through the projects setup under InSTS GEC. As on 31.10.2022, a total of 8651 ckm of transmission lines have been constructed and 19558 MVA of substations have been charged. Out of the 8 States, 3 have completed all the projects, viz. Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The commissioning timeline of projects under the InSTS GEC scheme has been extended up to March 2023 upon requests from the STUs.

Intra-State Transmission System Green Energy Corridor Phase-II

The InSTS GEC-II scheme with total target of 10750 ckm intra-state transmission lines and 27500 MVA sub-stations was approved by the CCEA in January 2022.          

The project cost is Rs. 12031.33 crore with central financial assistance from MNRE of Rs. 3970.34 crore (i.e. 33% of project cost). The balance 67% of the project cost is available as loan from KfW/REC/PFC. The transmission schemes would be implemented by the State Transmission Utilities (STUs) of seven states, i.e. Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh for evacuation of approx. 20 GW of RE power in the seven States. Currently. The STUs are preparing the packages and are in process of issuing tenders for implementing the projects. The scheduled commissioning timeline for the projects under this scheme is March 2026.

The State-wise brief of the projects under the scheme is as under:

State	Estimated project cost (₹ Crore)	Length of transmission lines envisaged (ckm)	Capacity of substations envisaged (MVA)	RE addition envisaged (MW)
Gujarat	3636.73	5138	5880	4000
Himachal Pradesh	489.49	62	761	317
Karnataka	1036.25	938	1225	2639
Kerala	420.32	224	620	452
Rajasthan	880.92	1170	1580	4023
Tamil Nadu	719.76	624	2200	4000
Uttar Pradesh	4847.86	2597	15280	4000
Total	12,031.33	10753	27546	19431