Transmission
Capacity is the Culprit
!
Economic Times ( 30 April ) carries following news :
Transmission
Capacity Deficit may Cap Reach of Green Power
Lack of coordination between ministry, CEA and
Power Grid seen as reason for under-capacity
·
The Economic Times
·
30 Apr 2018
·
Kaavya.Chandrasekaran @timesgroup.com
Renewable energy developers are worried that transmission
facilities are not keeping pace with power
generation even as 12,000 MW of solar projects are under construction...
Developers expressed fear that completed projects might
not be able to start functioning because all bays at the nearest substations
are already occupied and transmission lines already
carrying their full capacity ….
The main reason is that so far there has been no coordination between Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy ( MNRE ) , Power Grid Corporation of India ( PGCIL ), and Central
Electricity Authority ( CEA )
………..
Solar Energy Corporation of India ( SECI ) , which is
under MNRE, has been merrily holding auctions for both wind and solar projects without making sure that enough evacuation facilities are
available
Read this in the context of another news just 2 days
back , which said :
MNRE is about to come out with fresh tenders for 20 GW
( 20,000 MW ) of Solar projects
Now 1 GW of Solar needs approx. $ 1 Billion of
investment
So , we are talking of $ 20 Billion ( approx. Rs
130,000 crore )
I am afraid the response would be very poor due to
following reasons :
* Non
availability of Transmission Capacity , as mentioned above
* “ Non Risk “ attitude
of Private Sector finance ( due to falling tariff of Solar )
* No bank wants
to fund these projects when its own NPA are a huge concern
Loans of Rs
1.77 Lakh*Crore to 75,000 MW of Coal based power plants have
already turned
NPA !
* Uncertainty
re Safeguard Duty on imported Solar Panels pushing up costs
In light of this , it would be much better for MNRE to
encourage Roof Top Solar projects , which
enjoy following advantage over Ground-Based projects :
Each residential
building will produce / store and consume its OWN power , without having to
depend upon DISCOMS
No need for metering
/ transformers / substations / cables / transmission lines !
No need for DISCOM
to maintain the infrastructure ! or worry about thefts ! or sign Power Purchase
Agreements – and then worry about rescinding !
Now , recognizing
that it is just not possible to switch-over to ROOF TOP SOLAR , overnight, we must appreciate what the government
is doing
But what I fail to
understand is :
Why is govt not
going all out to encourage ROOF TOP SOLAR ?
I urge the Policy
Makers to read :
Solar Roofs
? Why not ? [ 06 Feb 2018 ]
For roof top installations , currently govt gives 30 % subsidy
Change this as follows :
# 30 % by way of subsidy
# 70 % by way of interest free loan , repayable over 10 years
Why not save all the funds required
for the above-mentioned infrastructure and use for the interest free loans /
subsidy for Solar Roof Tops ?
01
May
2018
www.hemenparekh.in / blogs
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