Is Prime Minister's Modi's 100 Gw Solar Target Achievable

Can the NDA-government led by Prime Minster Narendra Modi meet its objective of touching 100 GW solar energy generation capacity by 2022, seems to be the question uppermost in the minds of people connected to the ongoing global climate change initiative.  And rightly so. It may be recalled that when the previous UPA government had announced a target of 22 GW by 2021-22, its promptly tagged unrealistic by critics who pointed to the high costs involced in the large-scale deployment of solar power generation intiatives.  However a lot has changed since then. Beginning with a dramatic decline in the costs of solar power that have fallen from a high of INR 20/per unit to approx INR 5/per unit today - a positive trend that has played a stellar role in the government's decision to hike the solar target to 100 GW out of the proposed 175 GW of renewable energy.      The increased solar targets envisage an investment of approx $100 billion in the sector over the next seven years and if successful, will meet approx 9% of India's energy needs from the current 0.5%. By doing so, India would move ahead of Germany where solar energy currently accounts for six percent of total power.   One of the biggest benefits of solar energy projects will be their immense contribution to increasing our energy security by reducing our over-dependence on costly fossil fuel imports. Furthermore, off-grid plants under the new solar scheme can help India achieve its goal of universal electrification.   However, increasing India's solar power generation capacity from 3.3 GW to 100 GW in seven years poses a tough challenge which can be achieved only with a strong policy framework and all potential problems to its development.

 For example, large solar PV plants that constitute more than 90% of the installed solar capacity in India still face certain technical and financial barriers that need to be rectified. Also given the intermittent nature of solar energy, its large scale deployment needs the development of efficient grid management and load balancing mechanisms in tandem with state load dispatch centers and various R&D agencies.  Green bonds and public financing need to be promoted to reduce the cost of debt and increase loan tenures. Additionally, Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs) need to be stringently enforced to ensure that state utilities have an incentive to deploy solar energy in India.  RTPV's have been unable to sufficiently penetrate the local market due to issues ranging from the lack of distribution to poor awareness among consumers.  To counter variability and fluctuations, utilities need to strengthen their distribution transformers. Major restructuring is required in the off-grid sector.  All these many challenges need to be suitably addressed if India is to achieve Prime Minister's Modi's dream of solar power generation capacity of 100 MW by 2022.  Welspun Renewables is driven by its vision to light up India with clean and sustainable energy in its endeavour to improve the lives of people via Education, Empowerment, Environment and Health.

Source : articlesbase.com