27 GW renewable energy added since May 2014

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has taken several steps to fructify PM Narendra Modi’s dream of a clean energy future for the ‘New India’. The largest renewable capacity expansion programme in the world is being taken up by India. The government is aiming to increase share of clean energy through massive thrust on renewables. Core drivers for development and deployment of new and renewable energy in India have been Energy security, Electricity shortages, Energy Access, Climate change etc.

A capacity addition of 27.07 Gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy has been reported during the last three and half years under Grid Connected Renewable Power, which include 12.87 GW from Solar Power, 11.70 GW from Wind Power, 0.59 from Small Hydro Power and 0.79 from Bio-power, according to a PIB release.

Confident by the growth rate in clean energy sector, the Government of India, in its submission to the United Nations Frame Work Convention on Climate Change on Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), has stated that India will achieve 40% cumulative Electric power capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030 with the help of transfer of technology and low cost International Finance including from Green Climate Fund. As on November 30, 2017, Solar Energy Projects with an aggregate capacity of over 16611.73 MW including 863.92 MW from Solar Roof Top projects has been installed in the country.

The government is playing an active role in promoting the adoption of renewable energy resources by offering various incentives such as generation-based incentives (GBIs), capital and interest subsidies, viability gap funding, concessional finance, fiscal incentives etc. The National Solar Mission aims to promote the development and use of solar energy for power generation and other uses with the ultimate objective of making solar energy compete with fossil-based energy options.

The objective of the National Solar Mission is to reduce the cost of solar power generation in the country through long-term policy, large scale deployment goals, aggressive R&D and the domestic production of critical raw materials, components and products. Renewable energy is becoming increasingly cost-competitive as compared to fossil fuel-based generation, according to the PIB release.

In order to achieve the renewable energy target of 175 GW by 2022, the major programmes/ schemes on implementation of Solar Park, Solar Roof Top Scheme, Solar Defence Scheme, Solar scheme for CPUs Solar PV power plants on Canal Bank and Canal Tops, Solar Pump, Solar Rooftop etc have been launched during the last two years.

The increased use of indigenous renewable resources is expected to reduce India’s dependence on expensive imported fossil fuels. India has an estimated renewable energy potential of about 1,096 GW from commercially exploitable sources viz. Wind – 302 GW (at 100-meter mast height), Small Hydro – 21 GW, Bio-energy – 25 GW, and 750 GW solar power, assuming 3% wasteland.