On 4 November 2019, the Subgroup IV meeting on Green Energy Corridors under the Indo-German Energy Forum (IGEF) took place. It was co-chaired by Mr. Philipp Knill, Head of Division India and South Asia, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of the German government and Mr. Mrutyunjay Behera from the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) of the Indian government. The meeting was joined by 30 participants representing DEA, BMZ, German Embassy, KfW, GIZ, IGEF Support Office, MNRE, PGCIL, POSOCO, CEA and Rajasthan State Transmission Utility.

In his opening remarks, Co-Chair Mr. Philipp Knill underscored the success of the 5th Indo-German Intergovernmental Consultations between PM Modi and Chancellor Merkel held in Delhi on 1 November.

The Subgroup meeting covered the following topics:

1. Finance and funding in relation to GEC-I and GEC-II
2. GEC-I installation, status of projects, implementation status, ongoing work in managing variability & RE integration and storage technologies
3. Knowledge dissemination of best practice cases in RE grid integration through study tours involving various public and private stakeholders

Mr. Behera expressed appreciation that the scope of the discussions went beyond financial aspects to include technical issues and challenges in GEC implementation, and wished for this to continue in the future. He also stated the need for an increase in the proportion of RE in the grid, currently at 27%, as it represents the future.

Mr. Knill found the meeting to be fruitful and appreciated the fact that financial, technical and regulatory stakeholders were present. He thanked participants for the discussions on technical and political aspects of RE grid integration and framework conditions for pumped hydro storage of two such diverse countries.