India to achieve its aim of 500 gw of sustainable energy

29 Apr 2023 CW Team

In order to make more headway toward its 2030 clean power target, India will more than increase the capacity of the auctions used to distribute renewable energy projects.

According to a new federal government roadmap, agreements will be reached on the installation of 50 gigawatts worth of solar and wind projects from now until March 2024. In the previous five fiscal years, there were annual auctions for an average of 15 gigawatts.

To meet a target of 500 gigawatts of renewable energy generation capacity by 2030, which will also include hydroelectric and nuclear plants, the country is speeding up project installations. The need for fresh investment has been highlighted by the rising need for power, but projects in India face difficulties like high lending rates and competition from industrialized countries giving green subsidies.

According to Rohit Gadre, a BNEF analyst, delivering additional renewable energy projects will also require enough land to locate the installations and long-term consumers for the electricity generated. Those factors are “critical to the success of the plan, failing which the tenders will likely end up being under-subscribed,” Gadre said.

While there is increased interest in contracts from the commercial and industrial sector, rising energy demand is encouraging some governments to pursue new long-term renewable power arrangements to supplement current coal-fired capacity.

The government's calendar indicates that India intends to offer 15 gigawatts of projects for auction in each of the first two quarters of the fiscal year, which started this month, and around 10 gigawatts in each of the two following quarters. The auctions will be administered for the government by state-owned power firms Solar Energy Corp. of India Ltd., NTPC Ltd., NHPC Ltd., and SJVN Ltd.

The program "will give developers visibility," according to Subrahmanyam Pulipaka, CEO of the National Solar Energy Federation of India, a trade association. "There will inevitably be more traction."

In order to make more headway toward its 2030 clean power target, India will more than increase the capacity of the auctions used to distribute renewable energy projects. According to a new federal government roadmap, agreements will be reached on the installation of 50 gigawatts worth of solar and wind projects from now until March 2024. In the previous five fiscal years, there were annual auctions for an average of 15 gigawatts. To meet a target of 500 gigawatts of renewable energy generation capacity by 2030, which will also include hydroelectric and nuclear plants, the country is speeding up project installations. The need for fresh investment has been highlighted by the rising need for power, but projects in India face difficulties like high lending rates and competition from industrialized countries giving green subsidies. According to Rohit Gadre, a BNEF analyst, delivering additional renewable energy projects will also require enough land to locate the installations and long-term consumers for the electricity generated. Those factors are “critical to the success of the plan, failing which the tenders will likely end up being under-subscribed,” Gadre said. While there is increased interest in contracts from the commercial and industrial sector, rising energy demand is encouraging some governments to pursue new long-term renewable power arrangements to supplement current coal-fired capacity. The government's calendar indicates that India intends to offer 15 gigawatts of projects for auction in each of the first two quarters of the fiscal year, which started this month, and around 10 gigawatts in each of the two following quarters. The auctions will be administered for the government by state-owned power firms Solar Energy Corp. of India Ltd., NTPC Ltd., NHPC Ltd., and SJVN Ltd. The program will give developers visibility, according to Subrahmanyam Pulipaka, CEO of the National Solar Energy Federation of India, a trade association. There will inevitably be more traction. See also: NTPC and IOCL reach an agreement to establish renewable energy projects Tripura Govt and NTPC REL sign agreement to build green energy projects