Chennai: With the ambitious goal of adding 1 lakh mega watt of solar power to the grid by 2022, the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) has set a target of capacity addition of 15,000-17,000 MW in 2015-16, said its joint secretary, Tarun Kapoor.“This year, we are planning to scale up solar mission in a big way. Keeping in mind the target of achieving 1 lakh MW of solar power by 2022, we are planning to call for tenders along with state government to add 15,000 MW to 17,000 MW of solar power this fiscal year,” said Mr Kapoor after releasing Indian Solar Radiation Atlas prepared by the national institute of wind energy with technical assistance from GIZ here on Wednesday.
Mr Kapoor said from next year, the addition should be at least 10,000 MW to achieve the 2022 target. He added that as on date, tenders are in various stages of process for 4,000-5,000 MW projects across the country. Pointing out that of the 1 lakh MW solar power target, 40,000 MW would be through rooftop and rest from ground-mounted plants, he said ground-mounted solar projects should not happen only in few states alone. “All states should be covered.
Every state should be able to meet their renewable purchase obligation from the power generated in their own state,” he said. The MNRE official said solar radiation data reveals that general radiation is good and seems to be uniform across the country contrary to the belief that western parts of the country have better radiation. “It shows that every district and every state can generate good amount of solar power and use for their own,” he said.
C. Narasimhan, president of Indian Solar Association, Achim Fabig, consul general of German Consulate, Chennai, and Dr Winfried Damm, programme director, Indo German Energy Program, GIZ, spoke.
