Saturday, December 14, 2013: It is a known fact that India has big solar plans! Considering the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission Phase-1 (JNNSM), which has increased the installed capacity of solar power from around 30 MW to more than 2,000 MW is slated to make India a solar power. This was stated in a World Bank report.
It is noteworthy that JNNSM has played an important role in bringing down the cost of solar power that is competitive across the world. The report also added that the cost of solar energy has been brought down to $0.15 per kWh. This made India stand amongst the lowest cost destinations for grid-connected solar Photovoltaic (PV) in the world.
Titled ‘Paving the Way for a Transformational Future: Lessons from JNNSM Phase1’, the report states that solar power can reduce India’s dependence on imports of diesel and coal for power generation, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and contribute to energy security. Growth in this sector will help India increase its share of clean energy and help meet its target of reducing emissions per unit of its GDP by 20-25 per cent by 2020 over 2005 levels, reported The Hindu.
Onno Ruhl, World Bank country director in India stated in the release, “In a short span of three years, India has made impressive strides in developing its abundant solar power potential. With more than 300 million people without access to energy and industry citing energy shortage as key growth barrier in India, solar power has the potential to help the country address the shortage of power for economic growth.”
He further added that while India is clearly emerging as a global leader in the area of solar power, to achieve its target of adding 20,000 MW of solar capacity by 2022, “it needs to address the key barriers and constraints that could come in the way of scaling up the solar program.”
“Building on the success of Phase 1, the programme now needs to focus on promoting financing of solar projects by commercial banks, developing shared infrastructure facilities such as solar parks and identifying comparative advantage of Indian manufacturing across the supply chain,” Ashish Khanna, one of the authors and lead energy specialist said.
