Let the Sun Empower India

The national debate on utilising solar energy for electric generation in India is a hot topic nowadays.Various issues raised by him are still under debate at many levels such as the government of India, state governments, solar power producers, potential investors, the central and state government energy departments.

The raging debate is not a solar energy for power. It is not on its technical aspects. It is not on bringing entrepreneurs to invest and make solar energy a viable replacement of conventional power generation . The debate is on tariff i.e., at what rate the solar power producer be allowed to sell the power generated. The debate is on — who will receive the power, whether it is NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam or it is the state distribution companies or it is the private power trading companies.

The debate is also on who will decide the tariff — whether it is the central electricity regulators or it is the state regulators or it is the power departments of states, who are the ultimate users of this electricity and will sign the power purchasing agreement (PPA) with the power produces or the power trading companies . During this debate the government declared an open access system for the sale of electricity by solar power producers .

This meant that any power producer installing its project in one state can sell the electricity generated by him in any other state. That is solar power producer producing power in Rajasthan can sell power to any other state say Haryana / Delhi/ Punjab/ Madhya Pradesh, etc. The tariff for such sales will be decided by the central electricity regulator.

Then after Copenhagen came the national action plan on climate change. In this draft there are talks of solar energy, its technical aspects, its commercial aspects , its advantages over the existing conventional generation, and its effect on environment. But what is missing is a clear guideline to the solar power producers and power purchasers.

Then came the solar mission. Again the picture was not made clear as to what does the government want to do to develop the solar power generation in India . Much expected incentive to developers is missing from the draft.

However, based on whatever guidelines were available today, the states have started accepting applications from small and big investors for installing solar power projects in their state. All over India more than 800 investors have applied for such projects — totalling to a staggering 8,000 mega watt of solar power inviting an investment of Rs 1,20,000 crore. They have deposited a hefty nonrefundable fee of Rs 25,000 per mega watt and gave a heavy bank guarantee also. All these applicants are serious about installing solar power projects and have invested heavily on selecting the technology supplier, arranging land and creating infrastructure at remote locations . It is to be seen as to what the government will do with these applications.

The question is — does the government have any ‘infrastructure' and ‘will' to consume this 8,000 mega watt within 18 months time frame fixed for the completion of the power project. If the answer to this is ‘yes' then what the government is waiting for, why is it not opening the floodgates and allow them to let the Sun empower the power-starved state. If the answer is a big ‘no' — it seems that the government is still not ready to utilise solar energy in large scale.

Governments have created many actors for developing the solar energy field. These are ministry of new and renewable energy, the central and state regulators, national solar mission guidelines , NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam, state renewable energy department and big and small investors. As the saying goes — ‘too many cooks spoil the broth' — the whole plan of generation of solar energy has gone haywire. Till date not a single big solar plant has come up after clearing all the hurdles. If the policy remains confusing , the dream to harness Sun for power will remain a distant dream.

What is required is: let the solar energy field be declared open to all the investors (small or big); let them generate electricity from Sun for their state or for any other state under open access system; permit various trading companies to purchase the power from these investors directly; fix the tariff for each type of project — photovoltaic, thermal, thermal storage — fix it for 20 years as has been done for wind power; fix the tariff such that no other incentive from the government is desired by the solar power producers ; government should keep itself away from land dealings of these producers ; solar power producers should be encouraged, to make land owners profitsharing partners for life, in lieu of land they have sold to the power producers; India should emulate the Japanese model for use of renewable energy as a cottage industry to empower rural hamlet's instead of grid interactive power points; and keep the corruption away from this noble field of solar power.

The cost aspect of installing a solar power project is another important aspect for deciding the tariff. The investors have indicated a cost of Rs15-17 crore per mega watt for a solar power project. Today it is high because of the import of technology. But efforts by these investors to indigenise the technology and equipments have already started bringing results. Just think of the fillip to the industry and creation of jobs a plenty and let the Sun shine on Indian soil.

The steps taken so far to develop solar energy has sent the technical aspects and the technocrats view point on the subject into back seat. We know that the Sun and wind are the only future energy sources. We started with wood, then came the coal, then oil & natural gas, then nuclear fuel, all are on the verge of finishing. The Sun and wind will last forever. Let the technocrats harness this source for the benefit of future generation.

The grand old Sun is seeing and laughing at the chaos created in India on the harnessing of the solar energy. We need a Rajiv Gandhi who introduced computers in India in spite of all the opposition from all corners.