NITI Aayog and IEA launch ‘Renewables Integration in India 2021’

Context

A report is released on “Renewables Integration in India 2021” by NITI Aayog and IEA.

Renewable Energy Integration is the incorporation of renewable energy, distributed generation, thermally activated technologies, energy storage, and demand response into the electric distribution and transmission system.
The goal of Renewable energy integration:It aims to advance system design, planning, and operation of the electric grid to:
- Reduce the carbon emissions and other air pollutants through increased use of renewable energy and by other clean distributed generation
- To increase the asset use via integration of distributed systems and thus lower the costs of electricity
- To support the achievement of the renewable portfolio standards for renewable energy and energy efficiency
- enhance reliability, security, and resiliency from the micro-grid applications in critical infrastructure protection andhighly constrained areas of the electric grid
- To support reductions in oil use by enabling the plug-in electric vehicle (PHEV) operations with the grid

The report is based on the outcome of three states workshops held with the Governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Gujarat.
It was released to understand the specific energy transition challenges which were faced by these renewable-rich states.
The joint report underscores IEA’s commitment to providing support to India’s clean energy transition agenda.
The report uses IEA modeling results to show the effects of different flexibility options on the power system.
The report highlights that India’s power sector can efficiently integrate renewables (175 GW by 2022 and 450 GW by 2030), but it requires the identification of the resources and proper planning, regulatory, policy and institutional support, energy storage, and advance technology initiatives.
The report suggested a wide range of flexible options by Indian states.
Larger shares of renewables can be better managed by the shifting time of use in agriculture.
Time of Use (ToU) tariffs will be an effective tool for incentivizing demand-side management and encourage flexible consumption.
- For example,State has shifted 70% -80% of agriculture load to the daytime that provides incentives to the industrial consumers for consuming more electricity and increasing State share in Green Energy Trading.

It is commonly referred to as the segregation of energy rates which are based on the time in which the energy is being consumed.

The report gives useful suggestions to the states to consider their integration challenge.

The report on renewables integration will serve as a repository of vast knowledge for stakeholders in India.
RE integration can provide with the proper resources planning and better implementation of the technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, base power system management, and smart grid intervention.