According to World Bank’s observation at the end of the second quarter of our financial year 2024-25, our economy continued to grow at a healthy pace despite challenging global conditions. However, to reach its $1 trillion merchandise exports goal by 2030, India needs to diversify its export basket and leverage global value chains.
From the trade report in October 2024, we find that India’s export basket primarily consisted of petroleum products; telecom instruments; drug formulations & biologicals; pearl, precious & semiprecious stones; gold and other precious metal jewellery. Of course, we also export many other items, such as engineering goods, frozen foods, power (itself) etc. We are now diversifying our export basket paying attention on boosting export of banana; ghee; solar PV modules; and alcoholic beverages.
All the above product sectors need electricity either directly or indirectly. It goes without saying that storage & handling of any goods needs electricity. So, there is no doubt that in the coming months our energy demand will grow further. However, we have to remember our commitment in Paris agreement. Accordingly, we will have to reduce emissions intensity of GDP by 45% by 2030 from its 2005 levels. We will also have to target at producing 50% of electricity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030. Let us now see what our government has done so far in this regard.
Steps taken by our government to boost RE capacity
Our government has taken several steps and initiatives to promote and accelerate Renewable Energy (RE) capacity in the country to realize the commitment of 500 GW non-fossil energy capacity by 2030. These mainly include the following measures:
- Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has issued Bidding Trajectory for issuance of RE power procurement bids of 50 GW/annum by Renewable Energy Implementing Agencies from FY 2023-24 to FY 2027-28.
- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has been permitted up to 100% under the automatic route.
- Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) charges have been waived for inter-state sale of solar and wind power for projects to be commissioned by 30th June 2025, for Green Hydrogen Projects till December 2030 and for offshore wind projects till December 2032.
- To boost RE consumption, Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) followed by Renewable Consumption Obligation (RCO) trajectory has been notified till 2029-30. The RCO which is applicable to all designated consumers under the Energy Conservation Act 2001 will attract penalties on non-compliance.
- Standard Bidding Guidelines for tariff based competitive bidding process for procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar, Wind, Wind-Solar Hybrid and Firm & Dispatchable RE (FDRE) projects have been issued.
- Schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM), PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, National Programme on High Efficiency Solar PV Modules, National Green Hydrogen Mission, Viability Gap Funding (VGF) Scheme for Offshore Wind Energy Projects have been launched.
- Scheme for setting up of Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks is being implemented to provide land and transmission to RE developers for installation of RE projects at large scale.
- Laying of new transmission lines and creating new sub-station capacity has been funded under the Green Energy Corridor Scheme for evacuation of renewable power.
- “Strategy for Establishments of Offshore Wind Energy Projects” has been issued indicating a bidding trajectory of 37 GW by 2030 and various business models for project development.
- The Offshore Wind Energy Lease Rules, 2023 have been notified vide Ministry of External Affairs notification dated 19th December 2023, to regulate the grant of lease of offshore areas for development of offshore wind energy projects.
- To augment transmission infrastructure needed for steep RE trajectory, transmission plan has been prepared till 2030.
- Electricity (Promoting Renewable Energy Through Green Energy Open Access) Rules, 2022, has been notified on 6th June 2022 with objective of ensuring access to affordable, reliable, and sustainable green energy for all. Green Energy Open Access is allowed to any consumer with contract demand of 100 kW or above through single or multiple single connection aggregating 100 kW or more located in same electricity division of a distribution licensee.
- Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) has been launched to facilitate sale of Renewable Energy Power through exchanges.
- To achieve the objective of increased domestic production of Solar PV Modules, the Govt. of India is implementing the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for High Efficiency Solar PV Modules with an outlay of Rs. 24,000 crore. This will enable manufacturing capacity of Giga Watt (GW) scale in High Efficiency Solar PV Modules.
Measures taken for integrating RE sources into the national grid
It is not only the generation of Renewable Energy (RE), its proper evacuation is also equally important. Owing to the variable nature of REs, their integration to the National Grid is a big challenge. Considering that our government has taken up the following initiatives:
- Development of intra-state transmission network is being planned to keep pace with RE capacity addition. Strong inter connection of ISTS RE schemes with the intra-state network to ensure better reliability in terms of anchoring voltage stability, angular stability, losses reduction etc. is being done.
- Flexibilization of thermal generation has been mandated to address the variability of RE generation.
- CEA (Technical Standards for Connectivity to the Grid) Regulations lay down the minimum technical requirements for the RE generating plants to ensure the safe, secure and reliable operation of the grid. The compliances to the said regulations by RE plants are verified jointly by Central Transmission Utility (CTUIL) and Grid-India/RLDCs before granting connectivity/interconnection to the national grid. Robust compliances verification is done before interconnection of any new plant to the grid.
- Indian Electricity Grid Code mandates that RE plants participate in the primary and secondary frequency control in case of contingencies. Hybrid RE power plants, Energy Storage Systems such as BESS and PSP are being promoted for mitigating variability in RE generation and provide adequate frequency support to the grid.
What is our RE generation capacity now?
According to the Central Electricity Authority, our total renewable energy-based electricity generation capacity now stands at 203.18 GW (Information date November 13, 2024). This achievement underscores India’s growing commitment to clean energy and its progress in building a greener future. India’s total renewable energy installed capacity surged by an impressive 24.2 GW (13.5%) in just one year, reaching 203.18 GW in October 2024, up from 178.98 GW in October 2023. Additionally, when including nuclear energy, India’s total non-fossil fuel capacity rose to 211.36 GW in 2024, compared to 186.46 GW in 2023.
This milestone reflects the result of years of dedicated efforts to harness India’s natural resources. From sprawling solar parks to wind farms and hydroelectric projects, the country has steadily built a diverse renewable energy base. These initiatives have not only reduced reliance on fossil fuels but also strengthened the nation’s energy security. When factoring in the 8,180 MW of nuclear capacity, the total non-fossil fuel-based power now accounts for almost half of the country’s installed electricity generation capacity, signalling a strong move toward clean energy leadership on the global stage.
Epilogue
Although in the small span of this article, I have mostly presented facts from the solar and wind segments, the gamut of renewable energy is much wider. Figure 3 shows the details of our renewable energy capacity as of October 10, 2024.
From Figure 1, we find that a few states of India have leapfrogged in the renewable energy harnessing process, however, in order to achieve our national goal that spirit needs to flow in all other states too.
Additionally, Union Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) is continuing implementation of the National Green Hydrogen Mission, approved with an outlay of Rs 19,744 crore. The mission is aiming at establishing India as a global hub for green hydrogen production and export. The National Green Hydrogen Mission has an outlay of `600 crore for this running FY 2024-25.
By P.K. Chatterjee (PK)
