Optimism
is in the air. That summed up the mood at the Intersolar India 2014 Expo which
closed on Thursday.
The
three-day Mumbai event attracted a much larger number of visitors than last
year's expo and the euphoria following the election of a new government led by
Indian solar champion Narendra Modi was visible.
'The
worst is behind us' was the sentiment expressed by several industry
stakeholders, including developers, manufacturers, balance-of-system (BoS)
suppliers and service providers.
The
industry had a lot to cheer about as three states – Karnataka, Telengana and
Andhra Pradesh – had allotted 500 MW of solar PV projects each in the
previous three weeks.
That
came in addition to the 750 MW of solar
projects allotted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) under the
first batch of Phase 2 of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission
(JNNSM).
The
new deals follow a year of drought in 2014 which saw annual solar installations hit a
three-year low, accrding to analysts Mercom Capital.
If
all the new projects materialize, India will see record installations of close
to 2.5 GW next year.
Intersolar
India was inaugurated by Nobel Prize winner Dr. Rajendra Pachauri who, in his
address, said around 35% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come as a result
of energy production and that renewable energy can play a huge role in bringing
down GHG emissions.
90
GW of diesel gensets
In
India, the installed capacity of diesel gensets is about 90 GW and the amount of
diesel consumed by agricultural pump sets is also high. Close to 300 million
people in India do not have access to electricity and it is in these areas
decentralized and rooftop solar, as well as solar water heaters, can make a big
impact.
The
first day of the expo also saw the announcement of the winners of the Intersolar
Awards.
Prestigious
projects executed by Larsen & Toubro, Sterling & Wilson, Vikram Solar,
and Waare Energies made it to the finals with Bosch Solar, Tata Power Solar and
Trojan Batteries named winners.
The
event took place a day after the minister of new and renewable energy had spoken
about ways to increase the JNNSM targets from 22 GW to 100 GW by 2022.
Is
100 GW feasible within eight years?
Subsequent
discussions centered on that jaw-dropping number with many industry insiders
considering it a pipe dream after India took five years to reach the 3 GW
mark.
Others
were cautiously optimistic and of the view that if the challenges related to
power evacuation, financing and policy challenges are addressed, the target is
achievable. More optimistic figures said Modi's track record of introducing 1 GW
of capacity in one state within two years meant 100 GW is a realistic
prospect.
Tarun
Kapoor, joint secretary of the MNRE, mentioned plans are being prepared to see
how best the target can be achieved and hinted around 60% of the hoped-for 100
GW capacity addition is likely to come from utility-scale projects with the
remainder from rooftop systems and other distributed PV generation.
He
added subsidies for off-grid PV will be gradually phased out as generation in
segments like industrial and commercial rooftops is economical without them.
Indian
manufacturers expressed relief, in the belief a long project pipeline ensures
the pie will be big enough for everyone.
They
also felt a 100 GW aim will avert conflict over domestic content
requirements.
A
few of the PV manufacturing equipment vendors pv
magazine spoke to mentioned they
have seen more enquiries from India and they expect cell manufacturing capacity
to expand this year as the expo ended up an upbeat note.
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