Yojana_July2018_Meeting the Energy Needs of Future

Reference Article: Yojana-Meeting the Energy Needs of the Future
Context:

• Ministry of Renewable Energy has taken up the largest renewable capacity expansion programme in the world with a vision for clean energy future
• The summary enlists major initiatives in different sectors of Renewable Energy

Source Based Initiatives

• Solar Power:
  
  • Capacity of the scheme for "Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power " has been enhanced from 20 GW to 40 GW
  • Rooftop Solar Power:
    
    • Amendments in building by laws for mandatory provision of roof top solar for new construction or higher floor area ratio and making roof top solar as a part of housing loan by banks / NHB
    • Provision of roof top solar photovoltaic system and 10 percent renewable energy as mandatory under mission statement and guidelines for development of smart cities
  • Tax, Tariff and Financial Assisstance:
    
    • Raising tax free solar bonds for managing equity to setup solar projects
    • Tariff based competitive bidding process for purchase of solar power.
    • Central financial assistance for setting up of rooftop solar PV, up to 30 percent of the benchmark cost in residential, institutional and social sectors in general category states and up to 70 percent of the benchmark cost in special category states
  • Capacity Building:
    
    • Surya Mitra program has been launched for creation of a qualified technical workforce and over 11 thousand persons have been trained under the program
• Wind Power:
  
  • Wind Potential of India:
    
    • In terms of wind power installed capacity, India is globally placed at 4th position after China, USA and Germany
    • The Wind power potential of the country has been reassessed by the National Institute for Wind Energy (NIWE) and it has been estimated to be 302 GW at 100 meter hub height
    • India has a long coastline where there is a good possibility for developing the offshore wind power projects
  • Initiatives Taken:
    • Policy: The Cabinet cleared National Offshore Wind Energy Policy to tap the offshore wind potential of India
    • NIWE has signed MoU with Gujarat and Rajasthan based on wind forecasting experience of Tamil Nadu
    • Meso scale map prepared for wind resource at 120 meter height, as most of the turbine hub heights being installed are more than 100 meters
• Bio-Enegy
  
  • Central financial assistance for biomass power projects includes installations from biomass combustion, biomass gasification and bagasse co-generation
  • Promotion of off grid biogas power project for captive power generation
  • Family Size Biogas Plants mainly for rural and semi urban households are set up under the National Biogas and Manure Management Program (NBMMP)

Amendments in Tariff Policy:

• Purchase and Generation Obligations:
  
  • Enhancement in solar renewable purchase obligation to 8 percent by March 2022
  • Introduction of renewable generation obligation for new coal / lignite based thermal plants
  • Further, pursuant to the revised tariff policy, the MoP has notified the long term growth trajectory of renewable purchase obligation for solar and non solar energy for the next 3 years
• Ensuring Affordability
  
  • Bundling of renewable power for ensuring affordable renewable electricity
  • Waving off interstate transmission charges for solar and wind power

Green Energy Corridor:

• Intra-State Transmission System being implemented in 8 Renewable Rich States (Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh)
• It aims to synchronise electricity produced from renewable sources, such as solar and wind, with conventional power stations in the grid.

Other Initiatives:

• International Cooperation
  
  • Formation of International Solar Alliance which became a legal entity in December 2017 is one major initiative where the 121 countries try to collaborate with each other to harness the potential of solar energy.
• Financial Assisstance
  
  • Bank loans up to Rs. 15 crores will be given to borrowers for purposes like solar based power generation, biomass based power generators, wind power systems and for renewable based power utilities.
• Foreign Direct Investment
  
  • Foreign Direct Investment up to 100 percent is permitted under the automatic route for renewable energy generation and distribution projects subject to provisionof the Electricity Act, 2003

Further Reading:

• Find out some challenges India is facing to achieve its taarget of 175GW of Renewable Energy by 2022
• Find out some innovative solutions to enhance the implementation of Renewable Energy Projects in India

By: Chandan Sharma