Towards Green Growth in DVC through use of ICT and Investment in Clean Energy Generation

Project Summary:

The green growth in Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), through use of ICT and investment in clean energy generation program, represents a green growth investment opportunity. Currently a 100% thermal coal-fired power company, DVC wants to invest in solar energy to meet demands of its growing industrial customers. The program complements a World Bank’s USD $220 million loan for the first phase of solar investments and the upgrade of DVC’s transmission and distribution network to a smart grid. KGGTF’s two-year USD $600,000 program includes an assessment visit to Jeju Island and the creation of a road map for smart-grid initiatives. The program team will study options for renewable energy generation, and conduct workshops and knowledge-sharing visits to other countries. 

List of Activities:

• Conducting a Technical Option Assessment Study for Location and Siting of Renewable Energy Generation Investments and Study of Alternative Contractual Structures (Solar)
• Drawing up a comprehensive roadmap for Smart Grid initiatives in DVC for scaling-up innovative smart grid technologies like storage and hybrid (solar-wind) renewable energy projects through a combination of investments in renewable energy generation and smart grid initiatives
• Holding workshops and knowledge-sharing visits to other countries on ICT and Smart Grids
• Conducting a Study Tour of Indian officials and World Bank team to Jeju Island

Outcomes:

Output 1:

• Market assessment of innovative technologies (wind-solar hybrid, storage, and floating solar PV)
• Technical evaluation for the selected sites for standalone solar parks, solar-wind hybrid parks (with or without storage) and floating solar PV technologies
• Investor conferences to appropriately size the project and understanding bottlenecks in the ecosystem; and, conducting financial institutions conference to gauge their concerns

Output 2:

• Policy and regulatory assessment of adoption of such innovative technologies in India
• Impact of such technologies on the Indian grid (at the scale of demonstration projects and at larger scale), including review and assessment of JNNSM with reference to grid stability
• Designing training programs, training calendar, organization re-engineering for relevant stakeholders

Output 3:

• Workshops within India are planned to make an informed decision before undertaking investments in innovative technologies in renewable energy sector. Experts from other countries including Korea will be invited.
• The stakeholders will be taken to other countries like Korea where such demonstration technologies are planned.

Outcomes:

This project is intended to draw up a comprehensive roadmap for DVC in greening its energy mix through a combination of investments in renewable energy generation and smart grid initiatives. It has the possibility to become a large-scale demonstration project in the renewable energy space since the GoI is planning to set up multiple ultra-mega solar parks (with about 4000 MW capacity). Hence, the results and data obtained from this green growth investment by DVC will be extremely relevant to inform the design and evacuation arrangements from those future solar parks.