INDIA CAN GET 10% NEW ENERGY BY 2015

India can afford to double share of renewable energy, says study; Power from solar, wind, hydro power and other forms of renewable energy can rise to a 10% share by 2015
Padmaparna Ghosh, July 29, 2010 (LiveMint/Wall Street Journal)

"India can afford to raise the share of renewable energy in national power output to 10% by 2015 from under 4% today, says a new report.

"…[The just-released National Action Plan on Climate Change recommends India should generate 10% of power from solar, wind, hydro power and other renewable energy sources by 2015, and 15% by 2020. But the high production cost and its effect on state power utilities’ budgets is viewed as a deterrent."

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"The report by ratings firm Crisil Infrastructure Advisory assesses the renewable energy potential of states, the renewable energy purchase obligations of state utilities and its impact on tariffs. It says the additional costs… pan-India would be about 1.5 paise a unit in 2011 diminishing to 0.1 paisa by 2015…

"India has to import nearly three-fourths of its energy needs due to a limited stock of conventional energy sources. India’s renewable energy potential is 100,000MW from solar energy and another 85,000MW from non-solar sources. Of that, only around 17,220MW has been tapped. This includes 69% from wind energy, 16% from small hydropower units and 8% from cogeneration. The remaining 7% covers solar energy and other sources…[Wind] has the highest share in total renewable energy installed capacity…[and] the highest gap (between potential and production capacity)…[solar has the] biggest potential…"

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"More reliance on renewable energy will not only help India reduce its import bill but also cut back its contribution to polluting gases that are blamed for climate change worldwide. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has come up with guidelines on issuing renewable energy certificates (RECs) from September to promote green energy…

"States have been allotted different renewable energy purchase obligations (RPOs)…Sixteen state electricity regulatory commissions have specified the RPOs…RPOs reflect the target set out in the national action plan—5% of renewable energy in 2010, followed by a 1 percentage point increase every year, leading to 10% in 2015 and 15% in 2020…The potential for renewable energy differs across states…[and because] most renewable energy projects…[are] in poorly connected areas…transmission of power [will be] a major challenge."