Learn bits
Economy, Polity & Governance
Mahesh

04/04/23 22:25 PM IST

National Electricity Plan (2022-27)

In News
  • A new blueprint for the country’s power sector planners - the National Electricity Plan (NEP) 2022-27 - marks a discernible reversal in the policy thrust from its last edition.
National Electricity plan
  • The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) must create a National Electricity Plan in line with the National Electricity Policy, according to the Electricity Act 2003, to –
  • Create short-term (every 5-year) and perspective plans (15 years)
  • Analyse the need for planning capacity expansion
  • Coordinate the efforts of different planning agencies to ensure that resources are used optimally
  • Support the needs of the country’s economy.
  • The 1st National Electricity Plan was published in 2007, the 2nd in 2013, and the third (2018) includes the detailed Plan for 2017–22 and the perspective Plan for 2022–27.
  • A projected battery storage requirement in 2031-32 of between 51 GW to 84GW with a daily usage rate of 5-hours.
  • Estimated to be Rs 10 crore per MW, this could translate into investments into battery storage between Rs 5 - 8 lakh crore over the next ten years as backup for renewable capacity.
  • Battery Energy Storage systems (BESS) especially based on Lithium - ion batteries are one of the storage options.
  • The cost of the BESS is reducing in an unprecedented way making it one of the preferred options for deployment.
  • BESS has various advantages of balancing the grid against load fluctuations, intermittency in generation etc.
  • Energy storage can provide energy time-shifting which can be useful with the large-scale deployment of variable renewable energy sources.
  • The hybrid generation models. This will basically perform solar energy shifts and provide backup power.
  • The water-based systems, where no barrage on the river is required (economical).
  • During charging the water is lifted to the reservoir and during discharge the water generates electricity.
Challenges
  • The continued reliance on old, inflexible coal-fired plants for base load capacity.
  • India’s vast fleet of coal-fired thermal power plants of 200 MW series are more than 25 years old, run-on old technology and do not promise robust reliability.
  • Lack of clarity on how the renewables-dominated grid will be actually managed, despite a pronounced reliance on renewable generation for meeting capacity additions.
  • The inertia, which imparts stability to the grid, has been declining due to poor progress of hydro power and zero inertia solar generators
  • There is also no assessment of ramping rate for thermal plants under various scenarios of solar generation going out.
  • If battery storage is to be relied on, the total fund requirement for the period 2022-27 is estimated to be 14.30 lakh crore.
Source- Indian Express

More Related Current Affairs View All

05 Mar

First-ever comprehensive survey of India’s river dolphins

'Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the results of the first-ever comprehensive population estimation of riverine dolphins – Gangetic and Indus dolphins – done in In

Read More

05 Mar

Arresting women at night

'The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court in Deepa versus S. Vijayalakshmi and Others ruled that the legal provision in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which

Read More

05 Mar

Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023

'The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) looking to wrap up public consultations on the draft Rules for the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 by Mar

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps