India eyes $100bn solar investment by 2022
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NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ramped up his target for solar energy as he bets on renewables to help meet rising power demand and overcome the frequent outages that plague Asia’s third largest economy, a senior official told Reuters.
India gets twice as much sunshine as many European countries that use solar power. But the clean energy source contributes less than 1 per cent to India’s energy mix, while its dependence on erratic coal supplies causes chronic power cuts that idle industry and hurt growth.
Modi now wants companies from China, Japan, Germany and the United States to lead investments of $100 billion over seven years to boost India’s solar energy capacity by 33 times to 100,000 megawatts (MW), said Upendra Tripathy, the top official in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
That would raise solar’s share of India’s total energy mix to more than 10 per cent. In Germany, a leader in renewable energy, solar accounted for about 6pc of total power generated in 2014.
India had earlier set an investment target of $100bn for the next five years for all types of renewable energy, with wind taking up two-thirds of the total. In an interview, Tripathy said Modi’s new solar target was ambitious, “but if you do not have a higher goal, you will not achieve anything”.
Canadian Solar and China’s JA solar told Reuters they are looking at making cells or modules — used in solar panels — in India. JinkoSolar Holdings said recent announcements have also raised their interest.
US-based First Solar and SunEdison Inc have sizeable businesses in India, and together with local firms will invest $6bn in India for the fiscal year to March 31. Tripathy expects new and existing companies to invest about $14bn annually starting next fiscal year through to 2022.
Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2015
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Comments (38) Closed
Jan 03, 2015 01:30pm
WTG!!! Good luck in meeting the target!!:)
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Jan 03, 2015 01:57pm
SAARC countries will follow and utilise the solary energy, as their conventional energies are not reaching to the door step of the common people. The poor poeple of SAARC counties try to utilise the solary energy as their own govt. can develop more and more.
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Jan 03, 2015 01:58pm
India the Global Solar power champian
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Jan 03, 2015 02:02pm
SOLAR energy is good for all our neighbour SAARC counties.
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Jan 03, 2015 02:03pm
Modi is a leader with vision.
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Jan 03, 2015 02:18pm
Better idea is geo thermal. It works even where there is no sunlight. I am still to see a road map on the same by any Asian country.
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Jan 03, 2015 02:24pm
Not only india but whole world should look forward for solar energy.
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Jan 03, 2015 02:31pm
wow the great India is marching Ahead Thanks Allah, if not we our brothers are making their nation society I can just pray at last we all Pakistanis will feel the shame and try to become like them.
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Jan 03, 2015 02:35pm
not good time for such huge investment, Solar investment should start after 2018-2020. Price will fall. At present those are expensive.
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Jan 03, 2015 03:45pm
Mr Modi is pro growth and is a leader of 21st century. He should be supported by neighbors to bring more prosperity in South Asia. India will lead South Asia out of problems. Once it grows its effect will be visible in Pakistan, Bangladesh and other nations. Its like growth in an industrial hub. Once a big company starts to grow, the ancillaries units and suppliers around it grow in equal or greater proportions. Its not about choosing Pakistan over India or vice versa. Once growth starts in this region all member nations would benefit leading to better quality of life for their citizens.
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Jan 03, 2015 04:21pm
@SHAIKH JAMAL Good comment Jamal JI..... All SAARC nations must invest their time & Money in producing clean / renewable energy instead of military spending....
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Jan 03, 2015 04:59pm
this is all very well, but the problem is solar technology is not yet mature, the electricity it generates is more expensive (often double) than that from other sources like Hydel and Coal. We have a few more years before we get to the stage that solar power is more competitive.
These articles are for public consumption, to make it look like something is happening (even when it isn't), nothing of the sort will happen for years to come simply because the economics are not there yet. We are years away from cheap solar power.
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Jan 03, 2015 05:28pm
Worship of the SUN is nothing new to India - solar energy is proven and this investment was long overdue.
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Jan 03, 2015 05:37pm
why not? India have an average of 300 days sunlight during a year......
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Jan 03, 2015 05:40pm
The solar investment is worthwhile, but one has to see as to how much of this will be really realised on the ground.
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Jan 04, 2015 12:18am
A small personal experience. Use solar cookers at home. At least 300 days every year we can have our gas consumption brought to half. And i can assure you, the way things cook in that slow heat is delicious. and the realization that it has not costed a penny in fuel adds an additional flavour to the taste. the cost of cooker is just about 2000 Rs in India. one time investment.
Every year on Diwali or Eid we paint our houses. Just put few Solar Panels in the railing of your roofs, two or three in a decorative manner, they look impressive from distance. And light your verandahs, balconies or stairs with that. Do it every year and think about the results five years later.
small efforts with small costs bring bigger results.
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Jan 04, 2015 12:21am
@M. Asghar in india, modi made Gujarat a solar hub. hopefully he will do in whole india. This will reduce dependency on oil etc
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Jan 04, 2015 01:22am
@M. Asghar Solar energy was initially very expensive but then the Government of India and many states came up with various incentives such as reduced tax, allowing banks to grant loans at interest rates below the minimum prescribed interest rates, subsidies, etc. The sector of solar energy was also kept completely open and saw a lot of healthy competition between various private players who were looking to gain a strong foot hold in a then nascent but and emerging market.
The results are all for to see today.
What Modi did in Gujarat was that the Government guaranteed loans taken by poor villagers for buying large solar plates. It then helped them to install these large plates on the roofs on their homes and told them that they would be able to generate electricity for their daily use from these large plates. The excess energy generated however, would be taken by the Government of Gujarat. The Gujarat government would in turn sell the excess electricity to other States and to the Central Government, take its cut and use the rest to pay the monthly installments of the poor villagers. This would mean free electricity for the rural folk of Gujarat and after the repayment of the loan, an additional income of about INR. 2,000/- (approx PKR 3,200/-) for each household.
Gujarat government was able to come up with this plan because Gujarat see more than 200 days, annually, of good amout of sunlight.
Besides Gujarat, Bihar government has also launched schemes which has encouraged poor rural folk to buy small and medium solar panels. They face no problem in the summer but during winters as in the morning there is a lot of fog, a little bit off a shortfall is faced by those having a single small solar panel.
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Jan 04, 2015 03:05am
@Akram Well if you do a little research about at what price solar energy is being generated in India, I bet you will change your mind. I don't have fixed numbers right now but I know it has come down to around INR 5~6 from INR 13~15.
There's a reason why Indians are investing hugely in this sector. Not to mention it will also bring India's carbon emission down.
Namaste.
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Jan 04, 2015 03:25am
@Akram Solar power is cheaper than many other sources and in next 5 years with such huge projects it will be the least costly way to produce energy. Search for solar power in India on wiki and on that page you will find the per unit costs kWh. Its lower than 5 Indian Rs in some projects and don't be surprised as prices will fall more in India. India currently is the 3rd largest consumer of electricity in the world source wiki. So if it produces 10% of its energy from solar it will lead the world in solar tech. Costs in solar projects is an obsolete question when you see the economies through multi-billion $ projects in India. Moserbaer an Indian firm is also one of largest manufacturer of photovoltaic cell in the world. Manufacturing costs has come down over 60 times in the last decade for photovoltaic cells. Thus again costs will not deter solar energy generation. Its like a gas deal which involves a contact period of 20 years and volumes of 4-5 mmbtu giving economies to energy contracts. Solar is a similar story.
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Jan 04, 2015 05:40am
@Siddharth You seem to be clueless about geothermal. Indian subcontinent has a convergent plate boundary with Asia and we do not have that thin a crust to straw some heat!
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Jan 04, 2015 07:43am
So, let's have a look at the emerging energy situation in India. India is growing fastly and obviously she is going to require HUGE amount of energy to propel and sustain her high growth rate. And I must say the Indian govt is definitely aware of this fact and preparing well for India's future energy needs.. Large wind farms and solar power plants are being set up. India is expanding trade with Arab nations and Iran to ensure supply of petroleum. Oil exploration in South China sea. building chahbahar port and accessing oil-rich central Asian nations. Construction of numerous dams for hydel power generation is going on. and the icing on the cake is the emphasis on nuclear energy and huge uranium deals with Canada, kajakhistan, Namibia and Australia.
We're witnessing something great here guys. The elephant has woken up.. And its hungry. VERY HUNGRY..!!! ^__^
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Jan 04, 2015 10:01am
Correction. India is not the third largest economy in Asia. It is second largest.
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Jan 04, 2015 10:28am
meanwhile in india
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Jan 04, 2015 10:56am
@Akram Unless the govt. encourages it this sector won't grow. When Guj govt started this solar plants investment it was close to 20rs a unit. Now it has gone down to 6 rs a unit. Price will come down once companies see potentially large markets and invest in r&d. India is the growth driver that is dragging the solar panel priced down.
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Jan 04, 2015 11:37am
Just to add, Gujarat has the world's largest Solar park in the world and it's established during Modi's rule. Modi has the will and he will achieve it.
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Jan 04, 2015 01:50pm
wind power is better proposition than solar one.At present large 2 mw turbines are preferred, but I feel we should go for small, upto 1 kw or less wind turbines.This will light houses, colonies and wind is available 24 hrs..Wait for 25 years, and whole India will be flooded with them.Hopefully all SAARC nations will be.
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Jan 04, 2015 02:50pm
As an entrepreneur, i want to get into solar power.Its the future along with wind. What makes me really proud is that an Indian company Suzlon is amongst the top 3 or top 5 in the world in production of wind energy turbines .This company is only 14 years old
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Jan 04, 2015 05:30pm
@Harsh: So Japan is in North America then!
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Jan 04, 2015 07:51pm
One of the best deployments of solar is in the form of floating barges on canals and lakes. Besides generating power, it cuts evaporation of water especially in summer months, keeping the water body from running dry.
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Jan 04, 2015 08:30pm
Smart move by modi. There is one solar farm in Gujarat that covers 5000 hectares !! This is how modi has managed to bring electricity to every house and city in gujarat.
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Jan 04, 2015 10:42pm
@Ahmer Japan is 3rd in Asia.
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Jan 05, 2015 01:20am
@bharat Suzlon Energy has a big foot print in China as well?
A local manufacturing plant caters to the Chinese market?
These cross-border forays by enterprising Indian companies should grow and be encouraged by the government?:):)
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Jan 05, 2015 02:56am
@Ahmer India has overtaken Japan as Asias second largest economy in PPP terms
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Jan 05, 2015 06:38am
All nations, especially in Asia and Africa need to look at this alternative form of energy. We need not to use the finite fossil fuels. Also all nations in the Indian subcontinent need to stop their population growth by having a 2 child policy. Also the best way to harness energy from the sun is by planting more trees.
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Jan 05, 2015 09:02am
@Akram
May be it's expensive..bt during power cuts... people pay more for power back ups they used..and wen used in large scale it will also drop the production cost......
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Jan 05, 2015 12:07pm
SOLAR and WIND energies are the energies of future, both low cost.
Solar is more convenient for residential users but its cost still matters which is main hurdle in its adoption.
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Jan 06, 2015 01:21am
Pakistan is hopefully also doing same. We hope Nawaz Sharif is doing a Sharif job for the country.
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