New study unveils India’s renewable energy plan – pv international magazine

June 4, 2024 Uma Gupta

From pv warehouse in india

A new study by NITI Aayog estimates that India needs 517.34 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2029-30 to meet the renewable purchase obligation (RPO) target of 30 states and union territories. Of this, 177.74 GW of renewable energy (including 71.14 GW of solar energy) is already installed as of July 2023, with 339.6 GW to be installed. As part of the balance demand of almost 340 GW (as of July 2023), photovoltaics with a capacity of 262.24 GW, wind with a capacity of 60.22 GW, hydro with a capacity of 13.05 GW and bioenergy with a capacity of 4 GW should be installed over the next seven years. .1 GW.

Notably, the government has notified an annual RPO trajectory covering energy storage obligations till 2030. Under this trajectory, obligated entities, mainly power distribution companies (DISCOMs), in each state are required to meet a minimum share ( 24.3% in 2023 to 43.3% in 2030) purchase of electricity from renewable sources (RES). These obligations aim to increase the country’s use of renewable energy and thus help achieve the government’s climate action goals of increasing the share of generation capacity based on non-fossil fuels to 50% by 2030.

The study was conducted by NITI Aayog with the support of the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). The study presents a detailed analysis of the technical potential of renewable energy that can be used to meet each state’s RPO, the renewable energy capacity that deficit states must obtain from other renewable energy-rich states, and the storage needs to meet the required grid balancing. Various parameters were taken into account for the estimates in the study, such as renewable energy utilization rates, available potential, past generation and expected technological improvements.

The study shows that 269.79 GW can be mobilized in the states and 69.81 GW needs to be mobilized from other states to achieve the RPO target in 2029-2030. Of the 30 states and union territories in the country, 21 states will be able to achieve their RPO target by mobilizing capacity in the state and nine states will have to procure renewable energy from other surplus states.

The study also shows that to achieve the RPO target, more than 48.5 GW of renewable energy capacity needs to be installed annually by 2029-30. This is in line with the MNRE’s tender calendar, which aims to deploy 50 GW of renewable energy with at least 10 GW of wind power by 2027-28.

In terms of meeting individual RPO goals, seven states must source wind power from other states, five states must source hydropower from other states, and eight states must source solar power from other states. The study also estimated storage demand at 59.73 GW, including 41.13 GW of 5-hour battery storage and 18.6 GW of pumped storage. In terms of financial requirements, the study estimates that an investment in the range of INR 18.55-24.9 lakh crore is required to achieve the RPO target in 2029-2030.