Piyush Goyal to hold mid-year review of renewable commitments next week

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is also planning the second version of RE-Invest in 2016

How serious were the private sector commitments on renewable energy will come up for scrutiny soon with Power Minister Piyush Goyal taking mid-year review next week. The state governments too will be giving an update on their targets.

During the RE-Invest 2015, held in February 2015, against the NDA government’s target of 175,000 Mw, the participants — state & private alike - had committed 275,000 Mw of renewable capacity — around 75 per cent of which is solar.

RE-Invest was India’s first-of-its-kind investment congregation for renewable energy industry. The event started by the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) saw close to 319 private companies — domestic and foreign — committing to set up 250,000 Mw of solar and wind energy projects and some odd 15 PSUs committing 15,000 Mw. State-owned thermal giant NTPC leads the pack with 10,000 Mw alone.

Senior government officials said the targets set by companies need to be matched with the achievements till date. The MNRE is also planning the second version of RE-Invest in 2016.  

“These projects are being closely monitored on a monthly basis. This is to check the cumulative progress and take the next step. We are also open to feedback regarding investment facilitation,” said a senior government official.

The MNRE is likely to publicly make available the results, but only after private companies accede to it. The annual target to be achieved is close to 20,000 Mw. During this year, the MNRE is hopeful of adding 2,000 Mw solar and around 2,500 Mw wind, and by next year, officials said the pace will set in with solar capacity addition reaching 10,000 Mw and wind around 5,000-6,000 Mw, said MNRE officials.

“Around 15,000 Mw of solar projects would be tendered out this year. The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) will tender more than 2,000 Mw projects within this year. Then states are also issuing bulk tenders. These projects will come up in 12-18 months by the next financial year,” said an MNRE official, adding, “The solar mission will gather momentum then. This was more of a planning year.”
PLACE IN THE SUN

36,740 Mw India’s current renewable energy capacity
23,762 Mw Wind power installed capacity
4,060 Mw Solarpower installed capacity
100,000 Mw Target for solar till 2022
166,000 Mw Commitment for solar by 2022
65,000 Mw Target for wind till 2022
45,000 Mw Commitment for wind by 2022
319 Total private investors
15 Total PSUs