Centre doubles solar power target to 40,000 MW

Government is working on doubling the power generation target from solar energy parks to 40,000 MW in the backdrop of slow offtake of rooftop solar and problems being faced by some project developers.

The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy is keen to set up solar park projects with a cumulative capacity of 20,000 MW, in addition to the already launched such programme of 20,000 MW in 2014, a senior government official said on Monday.

According to the official, there has been slow progress of rooftop solar projects as it is mainly being implemented by institutions like government offices, schools and colleges. The scheme for ‘Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects’ had been rolled out by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy on December 12, 2014. The scheme has been conceived on the lines of ‘Charanka Solar Park’ in Gujarat which is a first-of-its-kind large scale solar park in the country with contiguous developed land and transmission connectivity. This scheme envisages supporting the states in setting up solar parks at various locations in the country with a view to create required infrastructure for setting up of solar power projects.

The solar parks will provide suitable developed land with all clearances, transmission system, water access, road connectivity, communication network, etc. This scheme will facilitate and speed up installation of grid connected solar power projects for electricity generation on a large scale.

Difficulties are being faced by the developers in executing the projects as in the case of SunEdison which had bid aggressively and won the project at a tariff of below '5 per unit.

The solar power tariff fell to an all-time low, with Finland-based energy firm Fortum Finnsurya Energy quoting '4.34 a unit to bag the mandate to set up a 70 MW solar plant under NTPC’s Bhadla Solar Park tender. The government has set an ambitious target of generating 175 GW power by 2022 from renewable sources, including 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from the wind, 10 GW from biomass and another 5 GW from small hydroelectric projects.