Monday, April 18, 2016

Solar Power in India-A new beginning in 2016


June 2015 saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi revising India’s solar power target from 20,000 MW to 100,000 MW by 2022. India currently has a total of 5547 MW grid-connected solar energy projects. Estimates reveal that India requires Rs. 6 trillion to escalate the capacity to 100GW. Recently, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said that India will add 3790 MW of solar power capacity by March 31,2016 to take the total installed capacity in India to 9038 MW. The Ministry submitted a status report that lays out the implementation of various schemes which will enable the meeting of the target by 2022. According to the Ministry’s statement, till January 31, a total of 5248.21 MW has been installed, with the maximum capacity being in Rajasthan and Gujarat coming a close second.

Of the new capacity that will be added by the end of this year, 322 MW will be added in Rajasthan, 281 MW in Telangana, and 276 MW in Tamil Nadu. The report also stated that tenders have been prepared till January 1 to add 15,177 MW of solar capacity in 2016-17. Tenders for another 4431 MW of projects are also expected to be ready by the end of the current fiscal year. If the projects reach fructification, by April 1, 2017, India’s solar power generation capacity will stand at 21,199 MW. Raj Prabhu, CEO and Founder of the Mercom Capital Group, was recently quoted saying that the sector of solar power in India has finally emerged out from a state of hibernation. The proof of it can be found in the fact that after three years of remaining at a stagnant level, solar installations in 2015 increased by 142% and 2016 and 2017 are expected to witness further growth in this regard.

Welspun Energy Pvt. Ltd (WEPL) is a leading independent developer of renewable energy projects. Within this year the organization will have achieved 1 GW of solar and wind commissioned capacities. ABB in India and Welspun Energy have together installed about 700 MW of solar photovoltaic projects in numerous Indian states like Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. The company also plans to participate in government’s program of setting up 4000 MW solar ultra mega power projects. The pipeline of state level projects that are to be commissioned through 2016 looks strong, and in the first quarter of 2017 will expectedly witness a significant capacity of addition through central government allocations. With Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka contributing almost 80% of all new capacity addition in calendar year 2016, the utility scale solar market seems to be well on its way to meet the target for the next financial year. 

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