Jnjivan Bureau / Mumbai: India hopes to touch renewable power capacity of 225 gigawatts (GW) by March 2022, the country’s power minister said on Tuesday, likely breaching the 175 GW target set in 2015.
“We will cross the target of 175 GW of renewable energy before 2022,” R. K. Singh said, adding bids for the entire 175 GW will be out by March 2020.
India, which is a signatory to the Paris accord for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, has an installed capacity of over 70 GW, up from 34 GW in December 2014.
The ministry has not revised the target but is hopeful 225 GW will be possible at the current pace of growth, Singh said.
The country is also planning to electrify all village households by December this year, he said.
The majority of India’s renewable energy comes from wind at over 34 GW, followed by solar at 21 GW. In the last four years, India’s solar capacity has risen substantially from 3 GW in December 2014.
Singh highlighted the 4 years of ministry he said Globally, India stands 4th in wind power 5th in renewable power and 6th in solar power installed capacity. Solar energy capacity increased by over 8 times from 2.63 GW in 2014 to 22 GW. Wind energy capacity increased by 1.6 times from 21 GW in 2014 to 34 GW. Trajectories for bidding 115GW renewable power projects upto March 2020 have been announced.
KUSUM (KisanUrja Suraksha evamUtthaanMahabhiyan)Scheme: 27.5 lakh solar pumps (17.50 lakh standalone + 10 Lakh Grid-connected), 10 GW of Solar Power Plants of intermediate capacity of 0.5–2 MWand 50,000 Grid-connected tube-wells/lift irrigation and drinking water projects
“We have waived the Inter State Transmission System charges and losses for inter-state sale of solar and wind power for projects to be commissioned by March 2022” said Singh. This will encourage setting up of the projects in states that have greater resource potential and availability of suitable land. It also helps in creating a pan-India renewable power market, as generation in excess of the state’s own requirement could be transmitted to the resource poor states without additional financial burden;
