It is difficult not be dazzled by India’s renewable energy ambition for after the country’s solar power capacity doubled to almost 7gw in 18 months, some within the government think it’s time for an upward revision of the goal of 100gw by 2022.
Can India pull off the 2022 target to 175gw of renewable energy (RE) capacity, including wind and biomass?
A senior energy sector official is affirmative of the fact that India is being beneficial for the immense political support at the highest level directly from the Prime Minister’s office for the success of the renewable energy programme.
It must be kept in mind that this ambitious project definitely comes with some challenges, which in ordered to be fulfilled needs India to accelerate her speed.
Energy minister Piyush Goyal is sure that the 175gw target will be met. “India is moving rapidly towards realising the clean energy vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Goyal said earlier this year on the micro-blogging site Twitter. Sustained by the progress, in May, Goyal exclaimed that he was considering an upward revision for 2022 solar target.
The sole reason for Goyal being so optimistic is the notable fact that renewable energy tariffs have hit record lows. An all-time low price of Rs 4.34/unit was achieved for solar energy capacity in January.
According to Goyal, in relation to the costs of thermal power. Solar tariffs are becoming competitive. Mention not, increased foreign interest in India, is the prime factor lurking Goyal’s certainty.
Dr.Ajay Mathur, director general of the Delhi-based think tank Teri, believes that in order to make good use of such targets, India needs to over top the combined challenges of finance and technology.
He also exclaims that even if the monetary problem gets resolved, it will bring India on the edge of technological ultimatum which would be about grid integration technology, including storage which seems to be a big hindrance.
An expert group set up by the Niti Aayog, exclaims that adding to the already existing problem of high cost of capital India attribute of renewable energy is still stuffed with compulsion.
As the government concentrates on outstripping the financial and technical challenges, KPMG brings forth another another factor that could impact the rise of solar energy: a disruption in the manufacturing ecosystem on account of the slowing Chinese economy.
This could undoubtedly be an opportunity but again at the same time it is that factor that will need to be worked upon.
