POWER May 2014 - 55

RENEWABLES
Table 1. India's installed capacity. Source: Central Electricity Authority
Dec. 31, 2012 capacity
(MW)
Renewables
Coal
Gas
Diesel
Nuclear
Hydro
Total
25,856
120,873
18,903
1,200
4,780
39,339
210,952
pected to cost $1.09 billion and be set up in
three years.
MNRE has planned four more ultramega
solar PV projects, of 500 MW each, for the
coming fiscal year, 2014-15, one each in the
adjoining states of Rajasthan and Gujarat
and two in the state of Jammu and Kashmir
in the north.
Legislative Backing Spurs Smaller
Companies
The development of grid-connected renewable
power took off in India with the coming
into force of the Electricity Act of 2003. The
legislation, which provides for regulatory
interventions such as determining tariffs,
specifying renewable purchase obligations
(RPOs), facilitating grid connectivity, and
developing the market, essentially spurred
the advent of grid-connected wind energy.
Solar power debuted only in January 2010
with the launch of the Jawaharlal Nehru National
Solar Mission (JNNSM) that aims at
promoting grid-connected solar power adequately
enough to bring the cost of solar
power to grid-parity levels.
But with wind power marred by several issues
of late, the government is seeking wind's
uplift with the launch of the first National
Wind Energy Mission (NWEM) by the middle
of this year. The NWEM will act as a facilitator
to incentivize investments, ease land clearances,
and regulate tariffs, but unlike JNNSM,
it will not involve bidding for projects. The
NWEM came after the Solar Mission because
wind energy had been progressing very well,
while solar required a fillip. MNRE estimates
the installable wind power potential in India
Dec. 31, 2013 capacity
(MW)
29,463
138,213
20,381
1,200
4,780
39,893
233,930
Capacity added
(MW)
3,606
17,340
1,478
554
22,978
for 50-m towers at 49,130 MW and for 80-m
towers at 102,788 MW.
" The growth of RE has changed the energy
business in India, " notes New Delhi-
based policy research and advocacy group,
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE),
in its just released " citizen's report " on the
State of Renewable Energy in India. " It has in
many ways democratized energy production
and consumption in the country. " Before the
renewable sector became a significant player,
the energy business was all about fossil fuel-
based big company and grid-connected power
that dominates even today. But now there
is an alternate energy market in which thousands
of small companies, nongovernmental
organizations, and social businesses are involved
in selling RE products and generating
and distributing renewable-based energy, it
points out.
Unwelcome Changes
However, while wind and solar energy in
India were once considered among the most
exciting growth industries in the world, they
have declined steadily over the past two
years. While 6,761 MW of grid-connected
renewable power was added during the 10th
Five Year Plan (2002-07) against a targeted
3,075 MW and over 13,000 MW was added
during the 11th Plan (2007-12) against a
target of 12,230 MW, the decline has been
visible from the year after 2011-12, the last
year of the 11th Plan, when 4,943 MW of RE
capacity was installed.
New RE capacity dropped to 3,163.17
MW in 2012-13, and in the nine months of
the current 2013-14 fiscal year ending in
Table 2. Market share of wind turbine suppliers in India (as of March
31, 2013). Source: CLP India Pvt. Ltd.
Supplier
Suzlon
Wind World
Vestas
Regen
Gamesa
May 2014 | POWER
Cumulative capacity end
2012-13 (MW)
7,829.80
4,109.60
1,853.20
883.5
657.5
Capacity added in
2012-13 (MW)
414.8
453.6
25.2
268.5
99.5
www.powermag.com
Cumulative marketshare
(%)
41
22
10
5
3
December 2013, just 1,921.98 MW (44%)
was commissioned against a full-year target
of 4,325 MW. This included 1,097 MW of
wind energy, or 47%, of a full-year target of
2,500 MW; 495 MW of solar, or 45%, of a
targeted 1,100 MW; and 131 MW of small
hydro, or 44%, of 300 MW.
The 12th Plan (2012-17) now aims for
RE capacity additions of 29,800 MW, with
15,000 MW of wind, 10,000 MW of solar,
2,100 MW of small hydro, and 2,700 MW of
biopower, including waste to energy (WTE).
JNNSM is also looking to add 20,000 MW of
grid solar power, 2,000 MW of off-grid solar
applications, and 20 million m2
of solar thermal
collector area by 2022.
The 12th Plan allocates Rs135,100 crore
($21.8 billion), or 9.84%, for RE-wind,
solar, biomass, and small hydro projects-
of the total outlay of Rs1,372,580 crore
($221.38 billion) for the energy sector. " This
is not enough, " observes the CSE report.
" Largely because of policy uncertainty-
some say paralysis-within MNRE, the past
two years were a complete washout for the
RE sector in India, with investments dipping
significantly from $13 billion in 2011 to $6.5
billion in 2012. "
This perception is shared by just about all
stakeholders in the RE sweepstakes. They
believe the decline has been brought about
as much by the general recession as by
policy uncertainty; an inattentive, even indifferent,
MNRE; and the inexplicable withdrawal
of incentives and abrupt changes in
the macroeconomic framework governing
the RE sector.
After successfully implementing Phase I
of the Solar Mission, the needless delay in
communicating Phase II until the beginning
of 2014 created stagnancy in the solar industry.
MNRE also flip-flopped on wind power,
throwing the industry into disarray by abruptly
revoking both the accelerated depreciation
(AD) and generation based incentive (GBI)
benefits at the beginning of the 12th Plan.
Both benefits had been introduced in 2009 as
being complementary to each other.
The GBI aimed at attracting large independent
power producers (IPPs) and foreign
direct investors to the wind power sector. It
gave the wind power developers a benefit of
5 paisa (0.08 cents) for every kWh of electricity
they sold to the distribution companies,
with a cap of Rs1 crore ($161,290)
per MW over four to 10 years. For solar, the
GBI was intended to support small (below 33
kV) distribution grid-connected projects by
providing Rs12.41 ($0.20) per kWh to state
utilities on direct purchase of solar power
from the project developers. Projects ranging
between 100 kW and 2 MW and connected
to the high-tension grid below 33 kV
55
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POWER May 2014

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