“Our vision is to make India’s economic development energy-efficient. Over a period of time, we must pioneer a graduated shift from economic activity based on fossil fuels to one based on non-fossil fuels and from reliance on no-renewable and depleting sources of energy to renewable source of energy. Our success in this endeavor will change the face of India. It would also enable India to help change the destinies of people around the world.”
Dr. Manmohan Singh (Ex-Prime Minister of India)
India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. In the globalization era the development in the technology and the research & development (R&D) has been really wide-ranging. The above-mentioned quote by the former Prime Minister (PM) of India Dr. Manmohan Singh was said during the launching of India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change on June 30, 2008. In the last 20 years, the global threat of climate change has posed a serious question of ecological sustainability in front of almost all developed and developing nations. India, being the second largest populated country, the energy patterns has developed a threat to the national energy security. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government during its tenure under the leadership of the Dr. Manmohan Singh launched India’s blueprint to tackle the consequences of the climate change. The blueprint known as the National Action Plan on Climate Change was a 56-page document that was prepared by the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate change in its first meeting on 13th July 2007, and contained eight National Missions for the growth of India’s sustainable energy infrastructure.
The National Solar Mission emphasized extensively on the use of solar power for the generation of energy and using it for various commercial and non-commercial purposes. The one of the primary objectives of this mission was to use the solar power for the generation of electricity with the means of Solar Thermal Power Generating Systems (STPGS) or Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) which used highly concentrated solar radiation for the generation of electricity. Gradually, over a period of time these STPGS or CSP have gained the commercial viability and have provided a swift and more focused area for the improvement of energy security in India. On the other hand, the development of the Photovoltaic (PV) generation has gained much momentum in generating the sunlight directly into electricity through the semi-conductors usually made of Silicon. But, there exists two major problems in the implementation of PV generation of Solar Power; first, the initial cost of the PV cells generation system is around ` 30-35 cr. Per Mega Watt; and secondly, the R&D activity in the solar energy sector remains very weak. The R&D in the assigned sector can bring the cost of the PV systems down by 15% and also can add few better and much needed technical dimensions to the existing structure of the Solar Energy (P Garg, ‘Energy Scenario and Vision 2020 in India’ (2012) JSEE). The need to boost the R&D activities in the solar energy is much needed because of its usage especially in the remote areas. On the other hand, the concept of the “rural electrification”, through the Solar Power Operated Grid Channels has added extra pressure on the agencies to develop and nurture the solar energy in the best possible manner.
The JNNSM was launched as ‘SOLAR INDIA’, which was then enumerated under the one of the eight national plans of the India’s National Action Plan for Climate Change. It was launched by the Government of India (GoI), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), in January 2010. This was India’s most important energy policy that was released by the government since the independence. The main vision that the Congress-led UPA government had, was to make India the leading global player in the solar energy. The MNRE decided to launch the project in three phases, from the year 2010 to 2022.
The analysis of the performance statistics of the JNNSM Phase-I, which was completed in 2013, shows that the country has increased its capability to produce the solar energy. But, today the Indian economy stands at the crossroads facing problems such as international competition and the rise of carbon emissions in the era of rapid climate change. On the other hand, the problems of rapid population growth, high tariff rates, low expenditure on R&D, technological up-gradations highlights India’s poor energy infrastructure.
JNNSM was a big step towards reducing the burden from the fossil-fuel dependent mechanisms to non-fossil fuel and renewable energy dependent mechanisms. The policy adopted a two-way approach to introduce the solar energy, one at the centralized level, and the second at the state level. The JNNSM was designed to be implemented by four segments instruments, namely: Solar Collectors, Off-Grid Applications, Utility-Scale-Grid-Connected Systems especially rooftops and Solar Lighting Systems (see Table). The Phase-I of the project largely focused on the Grid- Connected projects and the government classified the total 1000 MW of generation of solar energy into two components; first, 500 MW through PV cells and second, 500 MW through Solar Thermal method. For this energy processing, the Central Government announced the two batches of reverse auctions. These auctions provided two incentives to the agency which implemented the project; (a) feed-in-tariffs, a scheme under which if you installed an electricity-generating technology from a renewable source or low-carbon emitting source such as Solar PV or wind turbines, the government offered you to get the money from your energy supplier; and (b) Long term PPA (Power PurchaseAgreement), which was a long-term agreement to buy power from a company that produces electricity. A third-party financier will provide the capital to build, and operate. The National VidyutVyapar Nigam (NVVN), the power trading arm of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), the largest electricity provider in India, was allotted 30 PV cells projects out of which the NVVN was able to complete 25 PV cells projects. Therefore, as a result, the total output was 125 MW from the 25 PV Cells which was 25 MW less than the allotted 150 MW in the 30 PV cells projects. On the other hand, a total of 7 CSP Projects were allotted to the NVVN for the total energy production of 470 MW which were still to be commissioned by the NVVN in the year 2013.
The PV cells technology has been a huge success for the Solar Energy harnessing technology. With the geographical location of India and the strong blueprint in the form of JNNSM, the target to achieve the energy security and define the new alternate less carbon emitting energy avenues has been to a large extent now achieved. However, although the first phase of the JNNSM stands as a successful conduit, the need to carry and maintain the status for the rest of the remaining two phases is an important challenge for the government
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