India plans 13 Gigawatt solar energy parks in 20 States by the end of 2015
After the formation of new government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sky-high announcement continue to roll out in media.
The government announced that it’ll meet the goal of achieving 100 GW of solar energy by 2022. The previous government had targeted only 20 GW.
While, energy market analysts and many skeptics doubt about realization of such a huge goal, Ministery of New and Renewable Energy has started pushing the states to begun establishments of mega-solar parks.
Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is planning to achieve 13 GW by the end of this year. State governments will be financed by the Solar Energy Corporation of India(SECI). Already, detailed project reports have been prepared for 10 projects along with release of funds.
The government will by eying states like Rajasthan for its vast arid land and scorching heat conditions. So far, two 1000 MW projects and a 680 MW plant will be developed in Rajasthan. The project will be executed by Surya Urja Company.
At the same time, Andra Pradesh will get two 1,500 MW plant and one 1,000 MW.
Madhya Pradesh will develop two 750 MW each parks. The state have even issued tender for one of planed 750 MW propjets. Similarly, Karnataka and Punjab will get a 2,000 MW solar park and two 500 MW respectively.
SECI will assist power developers in preparing DRPs. It’ll provide Rs. 25 lakh along with 20 per cent per MW of the investment to power developers. The amount will help meet the investment required for land acquisition, financial closure, and construction of pooling sub-stations, transmission lines and grid connectivity.
Well, that sounds great, but considering the present renewable energy capacity, poor infrastructure, and lack of awareness in people and investors raises doubts over the realization of such a huge goal – 100 GW of clean solar energy.
Present installed capacity of India stands at only 3.8 GW and about 7.3 GW is under development, as reported by Mercom Capital Group. If India achieves this target, then it’ll be no less than a miracle.
The announcement of this target has attracted huge publicity for the government; however, some market experts doubt that sheer scale of ambition might not be enough to yield appropriate results.
India is trying to grab many memorandums of understanding with countries like China. Indian investors still lack conviction regarding the future of solar energy market; therefore, India is inviting foreign companies to invest.
Moreover, the land requirement to install 100 GW means about 100,000 hectares or 1, 000 square kilometers of land. As we know, the government is still struggling with its land acquisition act that has attracted huge protest from people.
Via: Business-Standard
