Green Energy Corridors

• The Government in 2013 announced a National Green Corridor Program (NGCP) worth Rs. 43,000 Crore to enable the flow of renewable energy into the National Grid Network.
• Specifically, the green energy corridor is grid connected network for the transmission of renewable energy produced from various renewable energy projects.
• The project was envisaged by Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) in its innovative report titled ‘Green Energy Corridors’.
• It was proposed as a dedicated transmission network for renewable energy across different renewable energy potential states.
• Two green corridor transmission networks are proposed under the project.
  • Firstly, construction of the inter-state transmission network for connecting renewable energy-rich states under Green Corridor-I will be completed.
  • Besides, a Green Corridors-II for solar parks is also started which is connecting solar parks in different states including Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
  • The first phase of the program is designed to support 33 GW of solar and wind power, while the second phase will link 22 GW capacity. 
  • As of now, there are 33 solar projects in 21 states including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Odisha, among others.
  • The government aims to create an ambitious 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022.