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Solar power targets

Kashmir Times. Dated: 2/26/2017 11:58:45 PM

India can do more to increase solar power capacity and meet its renewables energy targets in the next one decade

The central government's clearance to a plan to double the solar power installed capacity in dedicated solar parks in the country to 40 Gigawatts by 2020 with some financial assistance from the government appears in line with the goal of creating a base of 100 Gigawatts by 2022. The go ahead given by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in this direction comes at a right time if India is really interested in tapping the potential in the country in the field of renewable energy. Since India is a signatory to the Paris Agreement on climate change and committed to reduce El-Nino effect by bringing down the carbon footprints. India has a leverage of a big gap in the Green House affects as the carbon footprints in India are far lower compared to China and United States of America, which have been relying heavily on fossil fuels and coal for meeting their energy needs. India could still negotiate at the international level if some of the coal based thermal plants are to be set up for generating more energy to meet the growing demand as mechanisation of the industry and other sector is growing at an alarming pace. In this sector, the recent reports suggest that globally, employment opportunities in solar energy sector have witnessed fast growth mainly during the past six years among various sectors including renewable energy. Most of the Asian countries have tapped the huge potential the most, providing almost 60% of all renewable energy employment, while China enjoys the bulk of this with a thriving solar photovoltaic and thermal manufacturing industry, besides installations. Apart from measures to scale up generating capacity, India should take a close look at competitive manufacturing of the full chain of photovoltaics and open training facilities to produce the human resources the industry will need in the years ahead. Renewables and new energy storage technologies are on course to overshadow traditional fossil fuel-based sources of power as the costs decline. India also needs to revisit the trade agreements with most developed countries as some of them have refused to import Indian manufactured equipment. The agreement with USA should also be relooked into in view of the price difference between the equipments produced in either of the two countries.
Apart from meeting the challenge of competitive manufacturing within the country, there is also need for low-cost financing channels that hold the key to quick augmentation of solar generation capacity. The trend in some emerging economies, including India, has been a reduction in public financing of renewable energy projects over the last five years. This has implications for equity in the long run, and electricity regulators should fix tariffs taking into account the reduction in the level cost of electricity (the average break-even price over a project's lifetime). Moreover, there is also need to look at public participation in such projects instead of involvement of big corporate houses so that cost of evacuating solar power to the consumers is reduced. Smaller grids and spread in the hinterland of the country will do more good than the big corporate houses. Yet, recourse to other funding options, including regulated debt instruments such as green bonds, would be necessary to achieve early, ambitious targets. Without realistic purchase prices, solar power facilities could resort to curtailment of renewable power sources on non-technical and unexplained considerations, affecting investments. Tamil Nadu, a solar leader in the country, resorted to such curtailments last year, a phenomenon that has perhaps muted industry interest in its recent 500 MW tender. The funding mix for renewable energy, therefore, should give climate financing an important role. Since at the Paris UN Climate Change Conference, developed countries pledged to raise $100 billion a year by 2020 for mitigation, and more in later years, a promise that needs to be vigorously pursued. In this India could be big beneficiary as it urgently needs Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in this sector. Besides promoting phase two of the solar parks plan, and powering public facilities such as railway stations and stadia using solar power, the Centre should put in place arrangements that make it easier for every citizen and small business to adopt rooftop solar. This is crucial to achieving the overall goal of 100 GW from this plentiful source of energy by 2022 and to raise the renewable energy share in the total energy mix to 40 percent in the next decade.