Renewable Energy in India- An Industrial venture for sustainable development

 Industrial growth and sustainable development have been generally approached as two opposite ends of the same continuum, gladly they are now finidng congruence through Renewble energy in India and the rest of the world. The Indian renewable energy sector is the second most attractive renewable energy market in the world. India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), as submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under Paris Climate Agreement, inter-alia, include achieving about 40 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030.

The country ranks fourth in the world in terms of total installed wind power capacity. Installed renewable power generation capacity has increased steadily over the years, posting a CAGR of 9.29 per cent over FY08–18. India added record 11,788 MW of renewable energy capacity in 2017-18. The focus of Government of India has shifted to clean energy after it ratified the Paris Agreement. With the increased support of government and improved economics, the sector has become attractive from investors perspective. As India looks to meet its energy demand on its own, which is expected to reach 15,820 TWh by 2040, renewable energy is set to play an important role.

Renewable Energy dialogue 2018- Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, said that India is running one of the largest and most ambitious renewable energy capacity expansion programmes in the world. When achieved, this will place India at the centre of its “Sunshine Countries” International Solar Alliance Project, which is promoting the growth and development of solar power in over 120 countries.Speaking at Renewable Energy Dialogue in New Delhi, Suresh Prabhu said that India has set a target of achieving 40% of its total electricity generation non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. He said that International Solar Alliance is sending positive market signals therefore all countries want to invest in renewables encouraging new technologies to be made available thereby promoting financial investments in renewables. He further said that the Government of India’s target of installing 20 GW of solar power by 2022 was achieved four years of ahead of schedule in January, 2018 through solar parks and India has set a fresh target of achieving 100 GW of solar power by 2022. The Dialogue brought together several national and international stakeholders from the renewable energy community to deliberate on the drivers and challenges facing the sector, both in India and globally. Independent studies on scaling up rooftop solar panels, clean energy investment trends, addressing renewable energy curtailment, and risks in renewable energy markets in emerging economies were released at the Dialogue. The Renewable Energy Dialogue was organised by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) in collaboration with Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), International Solar Alliance (ISA), International Energy Agency (IEA), Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (SSEF), and REN21. This edition of the Dialogue had a special focus on market creation and market trends.

Government initiatives
Some initiatives by the Government of India to boost the Indian renewable energy sector are as follows:
• A new Hydropower policy for 2018-28 has been drafted for the growth of hydro projects in the country.
• The Government of India has announced plans to implement a US$ 238 million National Mission on advanced ultra-supercritical technologies for cleaner coal utilisation.
• The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has decided to provide custom and excise duty benefits to the solar rooftop sector, which in turn will lower the cost of setting up as well as generate power, thus boosting growth.
• Around 4.96 million household size biogas plants were installed in the country under the National Biogas and Manure Management Programme (NBMMP) by 2016-17 end.
• The Indian Railways is taking increased efforts through sustained energy efficient measures and maximum use of clean fuel to cut down emission level by 33 per cent by 2030.

In 2017-18, the Government of India has undertaken a number of policy measures for increasing share of renewable energy in India’s energy mix. These, inter-alia, include:

a) Provision of Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) under the National Tariff Policy;

b) Notification of the long term growth trajectory of RPO for solar and non-solar energy for next 3 years from 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19;

c) Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects;

d) Development of power transmission network through Green Energy Corridor project;

e) Making roof top solar as a part of housing loan provided by banks;

f) Waiver of Inter-State Transmission Charges and losses;

g) Repowering of Wind Power Projects for optimal utilization of wind resources;

h) Offshore wind energy policy for development of offshore wind energy in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone;

i) Supporting research and development on various aspects of renewable energy including with industry participation;

j) Financial incentives for off-grid and decentralized renewable energy systems and devices for meeting energy needs for cooking, lighting and productive purposes; and

k) Permitting 100 percent Foreign Direct Investment in sector through automatic route.

Road Ahead
• The Government of India is committed to increased use of clean energy sources and is already undertaking various large-scale sustainable power projects and promoting green energy heavily. In addition, renewable energy has the potential to create many employment opportunities at all levels, especially in rural areas. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has set an ambitious target to set up renewable energy capacities to the tune of 175 GW by 2022 of which about 100 GW is planned for solar, 60 for wind and other for hydro, bio among other. India will need investments of around US$ 125 billion to reach this target. As of June 2018, Government of India is aiming to achieve 225 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, much ahead of its target of 175 GW as per the Paris Agreement
It is expected that by the year 2040, around 49 per cent of the total electricity will be generated by the renewable energy, as more efficient batteries will be used to store electricity which will further cut the solar energy cost by 66 per cent as compared to the current cost.

By: Abhishek Sharma