ADB clears $450 million loan for power connectivity in India

• 4 years ago (2019-11-05)
• David Flin

Asia 859 Transmission 181

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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $450 million loan to strengthen power connectivity between the southern and northern parts of the Chennai-Kanyakumari Industrial Corridor (CKIC) in Tamil Nadu.

Pradeep Perera, Principal Energy Specialist for South Asia for the ADB said: “The ADB project will allow more power, including renewable energy, to be transferred from new generation facilities in the south CKIC to the north, where it is in most demand. This will help to promote economic development by delivering a more reliable and competitive power supply for industry and services in the state, which will in turn spur jobs and improve livelihoods.”

Tamil Nadu is aiming to develop the northern Chennai-Tiruchirappalli area of CKIC as a manufacturing centre while targeting the relatively less developed southern Madurai-Thoothukudi portion for the development of renewable power generation because of the availability of wind and solar resources.

Installed generation capacity in Tamil Nadu currently stands at 30GW. It is expected that with peak demand rising, a capacity of 50GW will be needed by 2025. The districts in southern CKIC are expected to contribute an extra 9GW over 2019-2025, of which 6GW will be renewable energy.

The project will establish an extra-high voltage 765kV transmission link to transfer the 9GW of extra capacity from Virudhunagar in the southern CKIC northwards to Coimbatore and Chennai. The project includes construction of a 400kV network to pool power generated at renewable and thermal power plants.

The total cost of the project is $650 million, of which the Indian Government will provide $200 million. The estimated completion date is the end of 2024.