Decentralised renewable energy will revaluate India’s power consumption

Interview with Raj Singh Niranjan, Managing Partner of Trans India Law Associates, Energy Law Expert and Author of Guide to Electricity Laws in India, in an interview with Megha Iyer of EPR, talks about future of prospects of renewable energy in India, especially with the government’s push towards clean and green energy.

Recent financial budget 2021 allocated a capital infusion of `1000 Cr to IREDA. What kind of practical developments can be made to the renewable energy sector?

SECI is a public sector undertaking as an Implementing Agency of the ministry. That plans and invites bids for RE projects on a pan-India basis.  It basically procures RE power at a central level and reduces the off-take risks of renewable energy developers. And the capital infusion, announced by our finance minister aims to boost the non-conventional energy sector. But, capital infusion of `1000 Cr in SECI is De-risking RE Investment. SECI is aggregating RE power at Central level and reducing the off-taker risk. This has resulted in massive investments from all over the world into the India’s RE sector, and also rapid decline in RE tariffs. Two impacts of this capital infusion are (1) De-risking global investment in RE and (2) Lower tariffs for Discoms which is expected to be passed to the Consumers. 

Secondly, the equity infusion of `1500 Cr will encourage International Leander’s to channelise the funds through IREDA. I think it will help in financing of around 4,500 MW of RE projects worth `20,000 crore. The above two investment will also help in mitigating climate change.

Clean energy and green energy are the key areas of focus for 2021. How do you see the DISCOMs reacting on the government’s impetus on renewables?

DISCOMs will have more options to procure cost effective RE Power- Solar Power tariff in the recent Gujarat auctions were `1.99 kwh which shows that RE can reduce the power purchase cost of DISCOMs substantially. This is a opportunity for DISCOMs to reduce cost and become financially strong. 

As India aims big at rooftop solar, how will PLI scheme benefit the local solar PV production?

PLI Scheme will reduce the cost of homemade Panels in India. Out of the rooftop solarisation target of 40GW by 2022 around 4 GW solar capacity stands installed through rooftop solar projects. Production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme is likely to add 10 GW of integrated solar PV manufacturing capacity within two years and reduce the cost for rooftop players.

PLI schemes will further incentivise new Gigawatt (GW) scale solar PV manufacturing facilities in India The government has committed nearly `1.97 lakh crores, over 5 years starting FY 2021-22 including `4500 Crore for ‘High Efficiency Solar PV Modules’ which will be will be implemented by Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE). Moreover, the manufacturers will be encouraged to source their material from domestic market. PLI amount will increase with the increased local value addition. 

According to an IEA report, Solar Energy’s share will be at par with the coal-fired power generation by 2040. Looking at the present share of 4 per cent of solar, do you think it is achievable?

India’s electricity sector is majorly dominated by coal accounting to around 70 percent of the total energy generation, whereas, Solar energy still stands at 4 per cent. To augment its present capacity, Indian government has set a target of achieving 450 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030. I believe that with Govt of India and Energy entrepreneurs coming together, India will achieve this even before 2040. Repowering of Wind/Solar Plants operationalise before 2015 along with farmers as prosumer (Agro-PV) will play a important role for overachieving the assessment of IEA. 

Green Hydrogen is the top agenda of Indian government. What are frame works required to facilitate the hydrogen-based energy sector in future?

Green Hydrogen can provide alternative for traditional energy `7 Lakh Crore is the import bill which the taxpayers of India are paying for Petroleum and Natural Gas. Green Hydrogen can do great national service by providing alternative fuel. Further for Heavy duty long distance transportation (E-mobility), Hydrogen fuel will be effectively utilised by India in coming days. We must also understand that Green hydrogen offers momentous opportunities for India to become a new clean energy sector by creating domestic manufacturing expertise for Indian and international markets. Green hydrogen could also play a role in the heavy-duty or long distance transport segments as it allows them to save their finances by limiting their expenses towards operations.

Looking at India’s fuel consumption rate, what can be the critical challenges towards clean energy transition?

The day India is able to store 20 per cent of peak demand of Energy through Energy storage or Pumped Hydro or other sources we can shift to 100 per cent renewable Energy. Hence it is only a matter of time that India will transition to RE.  This will also happen due to e-mobility gaining traction, wherein petroleum will be substituted with electricity. There is an increasing demand for efficiency, and transitioning towards renewable energy will create great expectations towards reduced power prices.

With the transition towards renewable energy, how do you see the increase in per-capita consumption of power?

Low per capita power consumption is indication of Energy Poverty – Decentralised Renewable Energy (DRE) solutions empower people and institutions to change the situation of Energy Poverty. Further with Initiatives from the Central and State Governments, we are likely to see massive rise in per capita power consumption. Interestingly, India has made a significant progress towards improving its energy access. Although we have achieving maximum electrification but providing affordable, reliable power supply remains to be a challenge.

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looking at attempts taken from Central and state government, we expect an increase in per-capita power consumption in India.

Raj Singh Niranjan, Managing Partner of Trans India Law Associates, Energy Law Expert and Author of Guide to Electricity Laws in India