Strengthening the transmission infrastructure for renewable energy integration: a load-flow study of Rajasthan, India

Rajasthan is the largest state in India by area and has the highest renewable energy (RE) potential in the country, estimated at around 450 GW (solar and wind combined). The state aims to install approximately 95 GW of RE capacity towards the national target of 500 GW by 2030. The transmission network plays a vital role in integrating and evacuating power from the generating stations to the load centres. Since a transmission infrastructure has a significantly longer gestation period than that of RE projects, the transmission network needs to be planned well in advance to prevent curtailment of power generated from RE sources due to network unavailability. In this context, our paper examines the transmission network availability in Rajasthan to integrate the power generated by the proposed RE projects and meet the projected state demand for the financial year 2029-30. Our study modelled the transmission network at voltage levels of 220 kV and above, using the PSS/E software, and executed load-flow analysis to evaluate the network’s availability to accommodate the increasing RE-based power generation in the state. The study identified the network constraints and also estimates the investment required to execute the recommended network strengthening measures.