Technical and performance evaluation of the programme/scheme ‘Off-Grid and Decentralized Concentrated Solar Thermal (CST) Technologies for Community Cooking, Process Heat and Space Heating & Cooling Applications in Industrial, Institutional and Commercial Establishments’

In this article, Prabir Kumar Dash discusses India’s efforts towards offshore wind through a robust programme based on sound resource assessment.

The MNRE/NIWE has made consistent efforts to create a conducive environment for the development of offshore wind in the country.

On behalf of the FOWIND consortium, we are pleased to present this feasibility study for offshore wind development in the State of Tamil Nadu, which is one of the main outcomes of the project’s final year. The study builds on previously published work, especially the Pre-feasibility Study published in 2015, the Supply Chain, Port Infrastructure and Logistics Study from 2016, and the Grid Integration Study published in 2017.

The First Offshore Wind Project of India (FOWPI) is part of the “Clean Energy Cooperation with India (CECI) programme, funded by the European Union. The programme aims at enhancing India's capacity to deploy low carbon energy production and improve energy efficiency, thereby contributing to the mitigation of global climate change. Project activities will support India's efforts to secure the energy supply security, within a well-established framework for strategic energy cooperation between the EU and India.

The First Offshore Wind Project of India (FOWPI) is part of the “Clean Energy Cooperation with India (CECI) programme, funded by the European Union. The programme aims at enhancing India's capacity to deploy low carbon energy production and improve energy efficiency, thereby contributing to the mitigation of global climate change. Project activities will support India's efforts to secure the energy supply security, within a well-established framework for strategic energy cooperation between the EU and India.

The First Offshore Wind Project of India (FOWPI) is part of the “Clean Energy Cooperation with India (CECI) “, which aims at enhancing India's capacity to deploy low carbon energy production and improve energy efficiency, thereby contributing to the mitigation of global climate change. Project activities will support India's efforts to secure the energy supply security, within a well-established framework for strategic energy cooperation between the EU and India.

With energy security and climate change concerns taking center stage in the policy arena, Renewable Energy (RE) has become an important part of the energy sector initiatives in India. To this effect the government has set aggressive targets and has put in place several incentives and policy initiatives (for both grid connected and off-grid).

On behalf of the FOWIND project consortium, we are pleased to present our latest Grid Integration Study for Offshore Wind in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu an important outcome of the project. The four-year project aims to put together a roadmap for developing a sustainable and commercially viable offshore wind industry in India. This report addresses the following key question on how to prepare the state power systems to connect offshore wind project in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu? The report first provides an overview of relevant policy and wind industry background. It then addresses the steps necessary to prepare the physical onshore grid for integration of offshore wind projects in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu while also considering the requirements to facilitate new offshore grid development. The report also evaluates how the states in question will ensure stable system operation with increasing penetration of offshore wind and other renewable energy generation. It further provides a review of the existing suite of the most relevant grid codes to ensure that they are suitable for development of offshore wind projects in India.

On behalf of the FOWIND consortium, we are pleased to present the Pre-feasibility Report for the State of Tamil Nadu, which is an important outcome of the project’s first year. The four year project aims to put together a roadmap for developing a sustainable and commercially viable offshore wind industry in India.

On behalf of the project consortium, we are pleased to present the Supply chain, Port infrastructure and Logistics Study for the states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, which is an important outcome of the Facilitating Offshore Wind in India project’s second year. The four-year project aims to put together a roadmap for developing a sustainable and commercially viable offshore wind industry in India.

Study report on the Benchmark Costs for Small and Large Hydro Power Projects.

The electricity system in India faces several challenges as the energy demand is expected to grow significantly within the next decades while the domestic energy resources in terms of fossil fuels are limited. It is important to increase electricity production in order to keep pace with the demand. Primary objective of the government is to build and efficiently deploy renewable energy for supplementing the energy requirements of the country. This will also thereby enable the government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Indian grid has a grid connected RE capacity of 31.69 GW (January 2015). Integration of large quantities of RE power in the grid has significant challenges both technical and\neconomic in nature.

The purpose of this Act is to promote the production of energy through the use of renewable energy sources in accordance with climate, environment and macroeconomic considerations in order to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, ensure security of supply and reduce emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. This Act shall in particular contribute to ensuring fulfillment of national and international objectives on increasing the proportion of energy produced through the use of renewable energy sources.

We, the Members of the Task Force constituted to study technological aspects of Waste to Energy (W to E) projects and propose potentially sustainable models of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) processing including energy recovery through integrated MSW management in the country, have carefully looked at the current situation of MSW management and various technologies that can be supported at a Decentralized and Centralized level on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode to enhance resource recovery and deriving energy and nutrients from waste, after due deliberations have adopted the Report for Submission.

The growing emphasis on solar energy utilisation to achieve energy security as well as to combat the menace of climate change and global warming has resulted in the formulation of one of the world’s most ambitious solar missions in India. While the larger focus of the Mission is on grid-connected projects geared towards electricity generation, there are great opportunities to deploy solar energy technologies for various off-grid industrial applications as well. This demands the initiation of studies to identify suitable\napplications for solar energy technologies and estimate their replication potential across industrial sectors. One such joint initiative of the Government of India (GoI) and GIZ aims to identify promising sectors forthe commercialisation of solar energy among industrial sectors in the country. The objective of this study is to identify opportunities that are commercially viable, have potential for replication and can also contribute to India’s National Solar Mission target of 15 million m of solar thermal collector area by 2017, and 20 million by 2020.

Solar water heating (SWH) is one of the simplest and oldest ways to harness renewable energy and can contribute both to climate protection and sustainable development efforts. Today, the global SWHS market is growing rapidly. In India, SWH is considered as one of the most commercialized renewable energy technologies. Increasingly, hot water is seen as a fundamental aspect of a healthy and hygienic life, and demand for it is growing steadily.\nIn India, SWH deployment in industrial sector is at early stage of development. Industrial\nsegment requires hot water of low temperature (55-60°C), medium temperature (80°C) and high temperature (more than 100°C)for the wide variety of applications. Depending on the industrial sector, process, location, terrain, climatic profile and economic status, quantum as well as temperature requirement of hot water varies significantly. Also, source of energy for heating water in different industrial sector also varies from region to region. However, it is possible to utilize SWHS to cater medium temperature hot water requirement (up to 80°C) of different industrial sectors and partially replace thermal energy used to produce the same.

The country-wide Market Assessment Study of Solar Water Heaters carried out in 2009 under the UNDP/GEF Project identified high potential States and Regions. This study focuses on five states/regions which are likely to contribute 49% of the SWH realizable potential up to 2022. These are:  Maharashtra  Gujarat  Tamil Nadu  Andhra Pradesh  National Capital Region (NCR) The specific objectives of the study are:  Understanding the hot water demand; penetration and economics of solar water heaters in the identified States/NCR Region and high potential cities covering residential, commercial and institutional sectors  Projection of future demand and assessment of the realizable market potential for 2013, 2017 and 2022.  Preparation of Action Plans for the States / NCR region for increasing the penetration of SWH systems.

The objective of the study is to carry out sector and segment-wise market assessment studies and surveys; to gain an insight into the current market for solar water heaters in the Himalayan region, to project realizable market potential in each sector and segment till the year 2022 and to prepare an action plan to increase penetration of Solar Water Heatingsystems in the Himalayan Region after identifying the barriers. Following sectors and demand segments were identified for the study: • Residential (Urban and Rural) • Commercial (Hotels/Guest Houses/Restaurants) • Institutional (Hostels, Hospitals, Places of Worship) • Industry Following states were covered in the study: o Jammu and Kashmir o Himachal Pradesh o Uttarakhand o Jharkhand o Sikkim o Hilly districts of West Bengal o Hilly districts of Assam

DIREC 2010 turned out to be one of the most significant renewable energy events ever held in India. The ambitious and unprecedented effort required for the success of this event could not have been possible but for the charismatic and inspirational leadership of Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Hon’ble Minister of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). The organizing team was equally guided and supported by Mr. Deepak Gupta, Secretary, MNRE, whose enthusiasm and fervour kept the team motivated. The multifaceted International Advisory Committee members gave in their valuable advice and inputs\nfor organising the event at every stage. The Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) Secretariat especially Ms. Virginia Sonntag-O’Brien worked tirelessly with the Organising Committee in making this event a success. The support and facilitations extended by the Ministry of External Affairs, Indian Missions abroad and Diplomatic Missions in India ensured the participation of Ministries and delegations from countries across the globe.

The Gurgaon-Manesar Urban Complex has emerged as one of the fastest growing urban areas in the country. The total area of the complex is 37069 Hectares. The current population is estimated at 25 lakhs, which as per the development master plan is expected to reach 37 lakhs by 2021. Gurgaon-Manesar has two large industrial areas – Udyog Vihar and Industrial Model Township (IMT), Manesar. It is known for its Automobile and IT/ITES industry in the country. The total number of industrial units in 2003-04 was 944. The growth of real estate has been spectacular in the region. The region has been adding 20,000 -30,000 flats/houses (having 2 or more bedrooms) every year for the past few years. The region is expected to continue to grow at a fast pace in coming years. The Gurgaon district has 25 notified SEZs in the country having a total area of 1120 Hectares. This makes it one of the leading districts in the country for SEZ development. The rapid development of Gurgaon-Manesar has put enormous pressure on natural resources\nand environment. The region is facing severe shortage of both power and water. A large part of the resources needed for the infrastructure development and its operation are being sourced from outside the region. There is a good potential to integrate solar energy utilization in the new infrastructure which would help to some extent in reducing dependence of the region on resources sourced from outside the district.

Internationally, solar water heating has been identified as one of the most promising decentralized solar applications, having significant potential to reduce electricity consumption and consequent emissions reduction. It is being increasingly recognized as an application that can help urban areas and industries in reducing their dependence on grid and reducing diesel/gas consumption. India has been bestowed with abundant solar energy, available almost around the year. The gross potential for solar water heating systems in India has been estimated at 140 million sqm. of collector area. Of this, 40 million sq. m. has been estimated as the realizable techno-economic potential at this stage. All over the world, high initial cost of the Solar Water Heating System (SWHS) has been found to be the major hurdle for large-scale deployment of SWHS. In India, a total of 3.53 million sq. m of collector area has been installed so far in the country, for SWH. The achievement so far has been modest compared to the overall potential.\nHowever, a reasonable infrastructure has emerged and experience is available for manufacture and installation of SWHS. Several schemes for promotion of solar water heaters have been in operation in the country. While most of these schemes were developed and coordinated by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), some schemes were developed at the State level. Some of the incentives from the central government included provision of soft loans to the users under the interest subsidy scheme through a network of financial institutions, public/private sector banks, scheduled co-operative banks, RBI approved non-banking financing companies. In addition, capital subsidy has been made available to builders and developers/development authorities/ housing boards/ cooperatives/ Group Housing Societies for providing solar water heating systems in new buildings and housing/commercial/institutional complexes.

Worldwide, solar water heating has been attracting the attention of the policy makers due to its potential to reduce electricity consumption and consequent emission reduction. India has been bestowed with abundant solar energy, available almost around the year. All over the world, high initial cost of the Solar Water Heating System (SWHS) has been found to be the major hurdle for large-scale deployment of solar water heating (SWH). India is no different. Similar to other countries, India has undertaken several initiatives for promotion of SWH. Given the huge untapped market, Ministry of New and Renewable (MNRE) under UNDP-GEF funded ‘Global Solar Water Heating Project’ is exploring the possibility of developing promotional schemes, which will enable large-scale deployment of SWH in the country. In this regard, MNRE has mandated ABPS Infrastructure Advisory Private Limited (ABPS Infra) to develop the potential financing mechanisms. This document provides the Executive Summary of the Report and covers the following important aspects of the proposed financing mechanisms for promotion of SWHS. Segmentation of Market for SWHS Assessment of Financing needs of User Segments Identification of Financing Instruments Proposed Financing Mechanisms

The present report addresses the following objectives. • Understanding SWH market • Projecting realizable demand for SWH till 2022 • Generating policy inputs (specific, separate studies on policy and regulation are underway) The report is an outcome of work done by Greentech Knowledge Solutions Pvt. Ltd (GKS), New Delhi led consortium of consultants. The other members of the consortium are located at Pondicherry, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneshwar and Kolkata. In addition to literature survey focused on global and Indian SWH market, we carried out a primary survey among 1000 users and non-users of SWH in household, commercial/institutional and industrial segments in 29 districts of India; selected in consultation with MNRE. We also held semi-structured interviews of 200 stakeholders- SWH manufacturers, dealers, SNA’S, banks, municipal corporations, electricity distribution companies, architects and builders. This was followed by analysis leading to demand projection and delineation of key areas for action to realize projected demand. The primary survey was followed by realizable demand projections.

Worldwide solar water heating has been attracting the attention of the policy makers due to its potential to reduce electricity consumption and consequent emissions reduction. India has been bestowed with abundant solar energy, available almost around the year. All over the world, high initial cost of the Solar Water Heating System (SWHS) has been found to be the major hurdle for large-scale deployment of SWHS. India is no different. Similar to other developed and developing countries, India has undertaken several initiatives for promotion of SWH. These initiatives are in the form of schemes that provide financial support to the user of SWHS. Given the huge untapped market, Ministry of New and Renewable (MNRE) under UNDP-GEF funded ‘Global Solar Water Heating Project’ is exploring the possibility of developing promotional schemes, which will enable large-scale deployment of SWHS in the country. In this regard, MNRE has mandated ABPS Infrastructure Advisory Private Limited (ABPS Infra) to develop promotional scheme, which provide regulatory framework under the Electricity Act 2003. This document covers the following important aspects of the proposed Utility driven, rebate scheme for promotion of SWHS.  Segmentation of Market for SWHS  Rationale for Utility driven promotional schem

National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) announced by the Hon. Prime Minister of India on June 30, 2008 envisages several measures to address global warming. One of the important measures identified involves increasing the share of renewable energy in total electricity consumption in the country. NAPCC has set the target of 5% renewable energy purchase for FY 2009-10 against current level of around 3.5%. Further, NAPCC envisages that such target will increase by 1% for next 10 years. This would mean NAPCC envisages renewable energy to constitute approx 15% of the energy mix of India. This would require quantum jump in deployment of renewable energy across the country. Here, it should be noted that, in India, small hydro plants with capacity of less than 25MW are considered as renewable. Strong policy measures and proactive regulatory framework and innovative financing instruments would be required, if the desired level of penetration of renewable energy is to be achieved. One such policy instrument prescribed in NAPCC is Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Mechanism which would enable large number of stakeholders to purchase renewable energy in a cost effective manner.

The Renewable Energy for Rural Livelihoods (RERL) project tries to demonstrate the use of renewable sources of energy in reducing poverty through improved quality of life and increased livelihood opportunities in remote, non-electrified villages of India that are not likely to get electricity from the grid. The objectives of the Project are to: raise economic levels of households through the delivery of a comprehensive package of energy services for meeting the needs of cooking, lighting and motive power from renewable sources. use the energy for economic activity, such that as many households as possible benefit fromthe project and are able to sustainably cross the poverty line. achieve investment efficiency. reduce drudgery and loss of time in fetching fuel-wood and water, etc.