Annual Report 2021-22, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

As of December 31, 2021, India’s RE capacity (solar, wind, bio and small-hydro energies) was 104.88 GW – 56.31 GW from implementation and 26.82 GW from tenders issued.

The cumulative capacity of installed solar power projects, as of December 2021, was 48.087 GW. The target of 100 GW is expected to be achieved by 2022 under phase 2 of National Solar Mission, the report adds.

Under the scheme ‘Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects’, Solar Energy Corporation of India and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency develops solar parks in collaboration with state governments, and private entrepreneurs. 50 parks with the cumulative capacity of 33,821 MW (9,195 MW commissioned so far) have been approved across 14 states by December 2021.

Crucial initiatives in NSM phase 2 includes ‘solarization’– through solar trees, rooftop solar power plants – of structures such as Konark sun-temple, Konark city and Sun temple of Modhera, Gujarat.

Decentralised solar PV (photovoltaics) with a capacity of 217 MW is being undertaken in three phases with central finance assistance (CFA) through state nodal agencies, the report states.

The target of PM-KUSUM scheme (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan) – including three components: 10,000 MW of decentralized ground-mounted grid-connected solar power plants, 20 lakh standalone solar powered agricultural pumps, and solarisation of 15 lakh existing grid-connected solar powered agriculture pumps – was expanded to add 30.8 GW of energy in 2021.

Phase 2 of the ‘Intra-State Transmission System Green Energy Corridor Scheme’ was approved on January 6, 2022. Under this scheme, transmission infrastructure would be set up in seven states – Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.

The installed capacity of wind energy sources stood at 40.08 GW as of December 2021.

For the development of offshore wind energy sources, eight zones were identified in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu with an estimated capacity of 70 GW. With Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) as nodal agency, National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy is being set up for 2500 MW Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS), the report states.

As per the report, three projects with the capacity of generating 1400 M3 of biogas per day were sanctioned in 2021. With this, there were 328 projects based on biogas with a total power generation capacity of 7.76 MW as of December 31, 2021.

For research and development, the Ministry has taken initiatives to strengthen its specialized institutions across the country. Major areas are solar PV, solar thermal, biogas research, hydrogen and energy storage, wind energy, the report states.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been collaborating and signing MoUs with foreign agencies, the report states. MNRE has also been a part of the United Nations-High Level Dialogue on Energy (UN-HLDE) where India was the ‘Global Champion’ for the year 2021.

Focus and Factoids by Jerry Jose.