India Moves Forward with Groundbreaking Solar Plan

By: 
Anna da Costa
Date: 
Monday, March 8, 2010

The first phase of a solar mega-project, aimed at expanding India's solar capacity from the current three megawatts (MW) to a reported 20 gigawatts (GW) by 2020 and 200 GW by 2050, was approved in January. The program, called the National Solar Mission, will form the centerpiece of the nation's climate change strategy and cost an estimated US$20 billion to implement.

While India’s national solar plans gain steam, many communities are taking the lead by building village-scale projects. The village of Legga in Rahasthan was solar-electrified by women trained as Barefoot Solar Engineers.
While India’s national solar plans gain steam, many communities are taking the lead by building village-scale projects. The village of Legga in Rahasthan was solar-electrified by women trained as Barefoot Solar Engineers.
Knut-Erik Helle, justworldphoto.org
With worldwide installed solar-generation capacity totalling just 16.5 GW, and India's power generation capacity at 150 GW, the plan is notable for its scale and ambition.

In 2008, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the sun would occupy "center stage" in India's climate strategy and that the success of the solar endeavour would "change the face" of the country.

Already, India's Solar Mission represents one of the world's largest renewable energy plans to date, with promises to establish India as a global solar leader, draw new investment to the country, and spur the creation of new industries and jobs.

In January, Renewable Energy World reported that Rs.43.37 billion (US $950 million) was approved for the first phase. Officials say funding for the rest of the program will come from a mix of sources. "We have kept several options open – budgetary support, taxes on fossil fuels, and international funding or a combination thereof," said Shyam Saran, India's special envoy on climate change.

Several international studies have pointed to the potential benefits of solar energy for India, including lower long-term energy costs, greater energy security, rapid scalability, and job creation, in addition to multiple environmental benefits. But the studies observed that India had not yet demonstrated the political commitment needed to jumpstart the industry. (Currently, India gets around 70% of its energy from coal, and coal use is expected to grow in coming years.)

Among other elements, the Solar Mission will rely on a portfolio of policy measures to support the growth of local industry and innovation around solar technology – from raw materials to components – through the establishment of dedicated solar and technology parks. The goal is to achieve cost parity of solar energy with grid power by 2020, making solar "very cost competitive with respect to other fossil fuel based power," according to an early draft of the plan.

V. Subramanian, former secretary of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and CEO of the Indian Wind Energy Association, has suggested that the success of the plan will depend not on massive government or international funding, but on changes to national and state energy laws and "the appropriate institutional structures to facilitate implementation at the state level." Such changes would allow the solar industry in India to thrive as it has in Germany and Japan – countries with meager solar resources in comparison, he said.

Looking to the future, Nicholas Parker believes the solar plan could be just the beginning. "If current calculations are right, solar will be cost competitive with fossil fuels in the next 5-10 years," he said. "Hopefully by then, we will look back and say that this plan was not audacious, but a tentative first step."

More information: 

A version of this article originally appeared in Worldwatch Magazine and online in Eye on Earth.