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Renewable energy in India comes under the purview of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). Newer renewable electricity sources are targeted to grow massively by 2022, including a more than doubling of India's large wind power capacity and an almost 15 fold increase in solar power from April 2016 levels. Such ambitious targets would place India amongst the world leaders in renewable energy use and place India at the centre of its International Solar Alliance project promoting the growth and development of solar power internationally to over 120 countries.
Contents
- Grid connected renewable electricity
- Off grid renewable energy
- Wind power
- Solar power
- Waste to energy
- References
India was the first country in the world to set up a ministry of non-conventional energy resources, in early 1980s. As of September 30, 2016 India's cumulative grid interactive or grid tied renewable energy capacity (excluding large hydro) reached about 44.24 GW. 61% of the renewable power came from wind, while solar contributed nearly 19%. Large hydro installed capacity was 43.11 GW as of September 30, 2016 and is administered separately by the Ministry of Power and not included in MNRE targets.
From 2015 onwards the MNRE began laying down actionable plans for the renewable energy sector under its ambit to make a quantum jump, building on strong foundations already established in the country. MNRE renewable electrictricity targets have been upscaled to grow from just under 43 GW in April 2016 to 175 GW by the year 2022, including 100 GW from solar power, 60 GW from wind power, 10 GW from bio power and 5 GW from small hydro power. The ambitious targets would see India quickly becoming one of the leading green energy producers in the world and surpassing numerous developed countries. The government intends to achieve 40% cumulative electric power capacity from non fossil fuel sources by 2030.
Grid connected renewable electricity
* The target is given for "bio-power" which includes biomass power and waste to power generation.
The figures above refer to newer and fast developing renewable energy sources and are managed by the Ministry for New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). In addition as of Dec 31, 2016 India had 50,017.97 MW of installed large hydro capacity, which comes under the ambit of Ministry of Power.
In terms of meeting its ambitious 2022 targets, as of April 30, 2016, wind power was almost half way towards its goal, whilst solar power was below 7% of its highly ambitious target, although expansion is expected to be dramatic in the near future. Bio energy was also at just under half way towards its target whilst small hydro
power was already 85% of the way to meeting its target. Overall India was 24.5% towards meeting its final 2022 renewable power installed power capacitiy of 175 GW. The total breakdown of installed grid connected capacity from all sources including large hydro was as follows:
The first figure at the top of the table refers to the fast growing renewable energy sources under the responsibility of the Ministry for New and Renewable Energy and slightly exceeded the installed capacity of large hydro installations. This figure is targeted to reach 175 GW by 2022. Coal power currently represents the largest share of installed capacity at just under 186 GW. Total installed capacity as of April 30, 2016, for grid connected power in India stood at a little under 303 GW.
Off-grid renewable energy
In addition to grid connected renewable electricity India had 1,347.29 MW(eq) of off grid renewable energy sources as well as 48.6 Lakhs of family biogas plants by 31 July 2016.
Wind power
The development of wind power in India began in the 1990s, and has significantly increased in the last few years. Although a relative newcomer to the wind industry compared with Denmark or the US, domestic policy support for wind power has led India to become the country with the fourth largest installed wind power capacity in the world.
As of March 31, 2016 the installed capacity of wind power in India was 26,769.05 MW, mainly spread across Tamil Nadu (7,269.50 MW), Maharashtra (4,100.40 MW), Gujarat (3,454.30 MW), Rajasthan (2,784.90 MW), Karnataka (2,318.20 MW), Andhra Pradesh (746.20 MW) and Madhya Pradesh (423.40 MW) Wind power accounts for 14% of India's total installed power capacity. India has set an ambitious target to generate 60,000 MW of electricity from wind power by 2022.
Some of India's largest wind farms are:
Solar power
India is densely populated and has high solar insolation, an ideal combination for using solar power in India. Much of the country does not have an electrical grid, so one of the first applications of solar power has been for water pumping, to begin replacing India's four to five million diesel powered water pumps, each consuming about 3.5 kilowatts, and off-grid lighting. Some large projects have been proposed, and a 35,000 km² area of the Thar Desert has been set aside for solar power projects, sufficient to generate 700 to 2,100 gigawatts.
The Indian Solar Loan Programme, supported by the United Nations Environment Programme has won the prestigious Energy Globe World award for Sustainability for helping to establish a consumer financing program for solar home power systems. Over the span of three years more than 16,000 solar home systems have been financed through 2,000 bank branches, particularly in rural areas of South India where the electricity grid does not yet extend.
Launched in 2003, the Indian Solar Loan Programme was a four-year partnership between UNEP, the UNEP Risoe Centre, and two of India's largest banks, the Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank.
Announced in November 2009, the Government of India proposed to launch its Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change with plans to generate 1,000 MW of power by 2013 and up to 20,000 MW grid-based solar power, 2,000 MW of off-grid solar power and cover 20 million sq metres with collectors by the end of the final phase of the mission in 2020. The Mission aims to achieve grid parity (electricity delivered at the same cost and quality as that delivered on the grid) by 2020. Achieving this target would establish India as a global leader in solar power generation.
Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association (IEEMA) Plays a major role in Renewable Energy
Waste to energy
Every year, about 55 million tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) and 38 billion litres of sewage are generated in the urban areas of India. In addition, large quantities of solid and liquid wastes are generated by industries. Waste generation in India is expected to increase rapidly in the future. As more people migrate to urban areas and as incomes increase, consumption levels are likely to rise, as are rates of waste generation. It is estimated that the amount of waste generated in India will increase at a per capita rate of approximately 1-1.33% annually. This has significant impacts on the amount of land that is and will be needed for disposal, economic costs of collecting and transporting waste, and the environmental consequences of increased MSW generation levels. Waste Energy In India
India has had a long involvement with anaerobic digestion and biogas technologies. Waste water treatment plants in the country have been established which produce renewable energy from sewage gas, however there is significant un-tapped potential. Also wastes from the distillery sector are on some sites converted into biogas to run in a gas engine to generate onsite power.
Types of Waste Waste can be broadly classified into
Prominent companies in the Waste to Energy sector