Adapting to power transmission is essential to combating climate change

 Adapting to power transmission is essential to combating climate change

Limited Transmission.

Since the 19th century, the majority of glaciers around the globe have been disappearing at an alarming rate. The sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that a total of 210 Gt of ice was lost annually on average between 1993 and 2019 as a result of climate change.

According to a different IPCC assessment on oceans and the cryosphere, by 2100, the Hindu-Kush-Himalayan area could have lost more than 60% of its glaciers.

And in addition to glaciers, other gloomy indicators of global warming include disappearing reefs and roaring forest fires. The message is unmistakable. Limiting emissions is insufficient. The world needs to start spending money right away on climate change adaptation.

The greening of the grid is the first step.

Transmission grids present one of the main obstacles to achieving the energy transition, as they do in all nations. This is due to the fact that without power transmission infrastructures to link the green energy generated in regions with abundant renewable resources to those with a shortage, the new renewable energy capacities that are emerging throughout the world will be of little use.

Around 1,000 GW of solar projects and more than 500 GW of wind projects are awaiting interconnection in the US and Europe.

However, India's energy transition path offers a crucial illustration of how the government is methodically pursuing the 500 GW renewable energy objective by 2030. India currently has 170GW installed capacity for renewable energy, which is impressive.

While attempting to create green energy corridors that span the entire nation, the Indian government has been inviting and encouraging businesses to install solar panels and wind turbines. This is due to the fact that policymakers are fully aware that transmission is necessary for any energy shift.

It is also important to highlight that efforts to build systems to deal with auxiliary services, green day-ahead markets, and real-time markets have begun.

The effectiveness of controlling grid instabilities will increase as a result. Energy storage technologies and flexible resource management in the generation sector would need to be given equal consideration in parallel. The recently released instructions from India regarding the promotion of pumped storage hydro projects are a positive development.

Mega-strategies and -investments

In order to achieve net zero, it will be necessary for yearly spending on the world's energy systems to increase by over three times over the next few decades, from $274 billion to almost $1 trillion by 2050, according to a recent BloombergNEF research.

According to BloombergNEF, global transmission lines will nearly triple by 2050 from their 2020 levels of roughly six million kilometers, which corresponds to a net zero world. The world will require a lot more transmission than what we currently have, as shown in the graph below.

length of the installed global energy grid in total. BNEF New Energy Outlook 2022, image

Closer to home, the Transmission Roadmap that the Indian government unveiled last year changed the game. It calls for a massive investment of INR2.44 trillion ($29 billion) in transmission projects that will link large-scale wind power zones and solar parks with the national grid in India.

To give users access to power 24/7, it also plans to develop battery energy storage capacity of 51.5 GW by 2030. Given that this capacity must be created over the course of the next seven years, the majority of these projects—which are anticipated to cost between INR1.5 trillion ($18 billion) and INR1.75 trillion ($20 billion)—will likely be implemented over the course of the following two years.

Notably, INR 1.5 trillion ($18 billion) worth of transmission projects will be put out for bid in the next 18 months, making them India's largest-ever outlays on transmission projects. Additionally, it will be among the largest transmission project contracts ever awarded through a public-private partnership. It will be incredible to reach $7 billion in a single year.

Additionally, the profitable and well-regulated transmission infrastructure in India offers enormous scale-related prospects for investors. Due to private rivalry in the transmission industry, there has been a steady increase in the amount of global money accumulating behind the projects over time.

Transmission line construction can be challenging.

A wind and solar power plant can be constructed in 18 months, but it takes longer to install a transmission line in India than in other nations. It is quite challenging to finish a transmission system in the constrained time of two and a half or three years due to challenges in the form of right of way, land, wildlife, forests, and other factors.

More importantly, it is becoming increasingly challenging as there are more organizations and right-of-way problems. Therefore, the government must provide significant help in that sector.

The majority of the renewable energy capacity is linked to state transmission utilities, it should be noted. Therefore, the effectiveness and dependability of intrastate transmission networks are crucial for electricity evacuation.

Despite rapid growth, the state-level transmission industry is nevertheless beset by problems such lack of competition in intra-state transmission development, right of way, insufficient investment, and lack of access to funding for state distribution businesses.

The next major revolution is waiting to happen, and that revolution is the development of the intra-state network. There is no purpose in investing only upstream because the network infrastructure would continue to be underutilized unless the weakest link of the state-level transmission grid is rectified.

Even further, the inter-country linking of transmission networks is something that should be taken into account. India's demand profile is changing as it makes progress toward a low-carbon transition by increasing its renewable energy generation.

Power demand peaks in advanced renewable energy economies between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Renewable energy sources, particularly solar energy, are also less accessible at this time. As a result, the timing of peak energy demand and supply is thrown off.

The Middle East and Africa's highest sunshine season would coincide with India's peak demand time, which might help meet Indian demand and make solar energy more affordable.

As a result, it is crucial to establish connectivity via an intercontinental grid that takes advantage of the time difference between these nations; this allows for the transfer of excess renewable energy from one nation's system to another that is in need of it at the moment.

It is essential to expand access to power

Aside from outlawing fossil fuels, significantly more electricity needs to be produced in order to reduce the effects of climate change. Increasing the poorest population's access to electricity will significantly raise living standards and lower emissions from burning fossil fuels.

Cities that are developed and energy-hungry will require more electricity to consistently meet their escalating demands. According to the BloombergNEF analysis, in order to supply the demand of a net-zero society by 2050, the global power network will need to be expanded by more than 152 million kilometers. a super grid that is more than twice as long as the current grid.

In order for climate change to slow down, transmission capacity must increase. India is undoubtedly setting a good example and contributing. The rest of the world must take notice and imitate.