India plans dramatic changes in Solar and Wind policy – unlimited capacity on fixed FIT for solar and 10 GW annual wind capacity installations
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India is planning to go in for dramatic changes in its renewable energy policies to boost solar and wind energy capacities in the country. There have been rumors floating around that India may soon come up with a fixed feed in tariff for solar energy with unlimited capacity additions. The country will do away with the practice of reverse auctions. However, this seems a bit farfetched in my view, given the precarious state of government finances. There are also issues with the availability of the grid and the problem of regulations at the state level. Even if such a policy does not come out, it shows the intent of the government to really increase the solar power availability in the country.
In wind energy the government is planning to add 10,000 MW of wind power in the country. Again a very ambitious target which I don’t think can be achieved in the near future. But even if India manages to do 60-70% of the target, it will imply a growth of 100-200% from the current annual installation figures and targets. India has a large domestic wind turbine manufacturing industry with large capacities which can easily meet the growth targets. However, the main issues will be in the ability of the transmission and distribution. Also I am a bit susceptible whether there are enough good onshore wind sites left in the country to achieve 10 GW of annual wind energy installations in India.
The bottom line is that the current political dispensation is thinking big in terms of growth of energy targets. They are not getting constrained by incremental thinking and policy paralysis which had crushed Indian growth and aspirations in the last 5-7 years.
The government plans to rapidly accelerate wind energy generation, adding an ambitious 10,000 MW every year, or five times the total new capacity that came up in the last fiscal, as the Modi government takes steps to reduce India’s dependence on costly energy imports. “Originally, the country planned to install 18,500 MW during the 12th Plan period. However, new government is keen to go faster in wind power capacity addition, to reduce its dependence on imported fuels and increase the share of environment friendly energy resources. With installed capacity of over 21,000 Mw, India is fifth-largest wind power producer in the world after China, US, Germany and Spain. According to Centre for Wind Energy Technology India has potential to install over one lakh mw of wind turbines.