ADB Lends India $1 Billion For Renewable Energy Transmission Network

India’s Green Energy Corridors project has received a major funding boost with the Asian Development Bank providing $1 billion loan.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced that it will provide $500 million in government-backed loan and an additional $500 million in non-sovereign loan, which will be provided to Power Grid Corporation of India, which is implementing a national-level project to set up transmission lines dedicated to carrying electricity from renewable energy projects.

These transmission lines will be spread across the country to supply electricity from states rich in renewable energy potential to those with low potential. The entire program is critical for India to achieve its target of increasing the share of renewable energy in electricity consumption to 15% by 2022, which includes a target for increasing the share of solar power to 3% by 2022 — which the government is considering to increase to 10%.

Germany’s KfW had also announced financial assistance worth €1 billion for this project. The latest funding will be used for setting up new direct current terminals in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Chhattisgarh.

The Power Grid Corporation of India has already started work on the green energy corridors project, having operationalised the second phase of the green corridor program, and allocated a transmission project in Andhra Pradesh, while completing the tendering process for projects in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. All these states have completed multiple auctions under their respective solar power policies.

The Indian Government has planned to set up 25 ultra mega solar power projects with cumulative capacity of 20 GW. The success of these projects relies heavily on the success of the green energy corridors project.