Few takers for pricey solar power in Delhi

It was touted as a huge fillip to Delhi's crawling renewable energy sector but solar power has turned into the proverbial white elephant - to expensive for the 'aam admi' to maintain or use. 

Despite various initiatives by corporates and power companies, solar energy is yet to take off in any big way in the capital. The industry had been waiting for a sizeable subsidy to be able to market solar energy commercially and a rebate offered by the Union ministry of new and renewable energy seemed like the perfect opening. However, Delhi missed the bus since it didn't have a solar tariff policy in place. 

The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission — the body responsible for fixing power tariffs in the capital — slept too long over the decision and by the time the tariff was hurriedly declared on July 9, it was too late to avail of the scheme. Delhi now stands to lose at least Rs 40 crore a year in the process. 

Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, the country is looking at harvesting 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022 and Delhi has aimed at meeting 5% of its total energy demand with renewable sources, essentially solar, by 2012. However, with a cost of Rs 19 a unit, solar power is unlikely to find many takers. 

The MNRE scheme was open to projects of a maximum capacity of 20MW. Delhi government got proposals for a total capacity of 30MW of which it had nominated projects worth 16.02MW for the scheme. 

"The solar tariff was essential on two counts. First, it was important to have some base cost to start with if the power had to be sold commercially. Second, the MNRE rebate could only be offered if the tariff was clear. Under MNRE's scheme, solar power which cost Rs 19 per unit would have been subsidized by Rs 13.50 per unit. The remaining Rs 5.50 would have been paid by discoms on behalf of consumers as the power procurement cost. In the present scenario, the entire burden is on the consumer," said an expert in the power industry. 

"Setting up solar rooftop panels is extremely expensive and the only way one can recover costs is by marketing the power commercially," said a Delhi government official. 

"Discoms came up with the idea of feeding excess solar power into the main grid. Unless there was a tariff, this process would not have been possible. For individuals who set up solar panels, discoms would have to give some subsidy, which again mandated a solar tariff policy. We have had several people approaching us with project proposals, except we did not know what to offer them in terms of finances. Now that the tariff is in place, there are several parties very keen to set up solar projects but we desperately need a subsidy."