Anil Dhaka, MD, Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited (RRECL) shares Rajasthan State’s success in the renewable energy efforts and how it has emerged as the renewable energy capital with Mahesh Avadhutha. An IndiGlobal Media exclusive
Q) Rajasthan announces itself to be India’s Renewable Energy Capital. Elaborate please.
Today, India is the world’s third largest producer of renewable energy, with 40% of its installed electricity capacity coming from non-fossil fuel sources. At National level we are targeting RE capacity of 500 GW by 2030. For the next 8 years, we need to install ~40 GW RE Capacity every year. India has installed 118 GW RE capacity till Oct, 2022. Aggressive proactive interventions are required to meet the ambitious target to which Rajasthan can contribute tremendously.
Looking into the recent trends, we see that Rajasthan has emerged as the Solar power capital of the country. Till October 2022, Rajasthan has contributed a major ~17% share in installed capacity to the nation by installing 20 GW capacity, the highest contribution in national RE growth so far.
If we talk about India’s potential in Solar which is 748 GW and Wind potential is 690 GW. From this vast storehouse of potential, Rajasthan has a enormous potential of 142 GW in solar and 127 GW in wind respectively and a share of about 20% RE Capacity of the country.
Going by the potential & trends, Rajasthan can contribute upto 90 GW RE capacity by 2030 in the overall national target of 500 GW by non fossil fuels. We, at present are leading in the country in Solar installed capacity and Rajasthan government in its RE Policies, 2019 has set a target of 37.5 GW RE Capacity by 2024-25. Looking into this, one can confidently vouch for Rajasthan as India’s Renewable Energy Capital.
Q) Take us through the solar journey of Rajasthan.
The journey of Rajasthan in becoming ranked the number one state in Solar has been a very recent one and we are fortunate to lead the country into an era of Renewable Energy driven growth. The State was 3 rd and 4 th rank in solar power capacity till 4 years ago. The can mention some of the key factors in aiding Rajasthan as pioneer state in RE:
Under the able leadership of Hon’ble CM of Rajasthan, the State Govt. has announced two Stakeholder driven new RE policies in 2019 which are Rajasthan Solar Energy Policy, 2019 and Rajasthan Wind and Hybrid Policy, 2019. Along with other Investment promotion policies.
Rajasthan, no doubt, is blessed with natural advantages such as highest solar insolation and abundant wastelands but the right policy framework and investment friendly governance have catalyzed the growth of Rajasthan to become number one in Solar Energy State in India. In addition to RE policies, Rajasthan also has investor friendly policies such as RIP-2022 & MSME Act further facilitating the investor/stakeholder. These have further supplemented the growth of Rajasthan’s RE journey to the top.
Q) The State is home to world’s largest fully operational 2245 MW Solar Park in Bhadla, Jodhpur spread over 5783 hectares. Could you throw some light on how this project was shaped up and executed.
We are proud to share that the Largest Solar Park in the world with installed capacity of 2245 MW has been commissioned in Village-Bhadla in Bap Tehsil of Jodhpur district. This was the first GW scale Solar park of the country and we had many challenges in its infra development with matching evacuation and transmission systems development, but with coordinated efforts and professional approach of our corporation and GoI agencies we could successfully commission the Bhadla solar park in the stipulated time frame. We are also happy to share that Bhadla solar park played a major role in lowering the bidding rates of RE power at the national level setting new lower level benchmarking.
RSDCL, an SPV of State govt. developed Bhadla Solar Park in four phases;
Bhadla Solar Park Phase-I 65 MW
Bhadla Solar Park Phase-II 680 MW
Bhadla Solar Park Phase-III 1000 MW
Bhadla Solar Park Phase-IV 500MW
Total capacity of the Solar Park is 2245 MW and was finally commissioned on 22.02.2020.
Q) How is Rajasthan doing in wind generation capacity?
Rajasthan is again one of the top states even in wind power. A decade ago Rajasthan was the most sought after state for development of wind power plants by leading Wind power investors. Today we have installed capacity of more than 4500 MW in wind. To boost Wind power and Hybrid RE power, the Government has recently launched Rajasthan Wind and Hybrid Energy Policy, 2019 in which Rajasthan Government has set a target of 4000 MW from Wind Power Projects. As per the NIWE studies Rajasthan has huge potential of 127 GW, so we have lots of Scope in Wind and Hybrid power generation in Rajasthan.
Q) What are the future plans in Renewable Energy sector in Rajasthan?
Growing concerns of global warming and climate change require emphasis on clean and green energy. The Renewable Energy sources lay foundation for developing the policy framework to ensure energy security and equity along with achieving the goals of reducing carbon emission and pollution mitigation. Some of the targets for the state are:
- Promotion of Solar power generation through De-centralised Renewable generation is a key focus area. State Government in the budget announcement has announced setting up 2600 MW capacity on farmer’s land. KUSUM-A, Component is being implemented to increase farmer’s income & to reduce T&D losses. State has awarded 623 Nos. projects of total 722 MW capacity at 571 locations across 29 district .Rajasthan is the first state to commission maximum capacity under the scheme. We are again number one ranked state in KUSUM-A component with a total 42 projects with a total of 55.5 MW capacity have been commissioned so far in far flung villages across the state.
- The State also has priority of pushing the targets of roof top solar installations. Already a Total 835 MW Rooftop capacity has been commissioned under Net Metering mechanism in the state in all sectors.
- RREC is funding for Solarisation of the Stand Alone Mini Drinking Water Supply Schemes in rural areas by energizing the pumps from solar energy. The project will be taken up on pilot basis for 200 locations, considering the availability of ground water in the area. The project while ensuring the supply of drinking water will also address the issue of non availability of funds with the Gram Panchayats for payment of electricity bills.
- The State is also working for the State policy for promotion of Green Hydrogen Generation to make it a priority in RE sector. We are also undertaking the study of pumped hydro storage potential in the State to make our RE generation more firm and round the clock.
Q) India’s Renewable Energy target of 450 GW by the year 2030. What would be Rajasthan’s contribution?
India is targeting about 500 GW of installed RE capacity by 2030. This is definitely a daunting task but when we see the commitments of Government of India about the promotion of RE sector along with the push for ISTS corridors, I believe that this target is achievable, provided states like Rajasthan and other RE resource rich states work in tandem with the national goals.
As far as Rajasthan is concerned, our State policies and governance is definitely committed for the achieving national goals on time as we have the right policies, ample land banks, investor friendly governance and developing evacuations for the State level transmissions to supplement the ISTS networks. We have already registered more than 80000 MW of Re projects in Rajasthan in last couple of years, All the Big PSUs of GoI are also planning for GW scale RE projects in Rajasthan in coming 3 to 5 years. We are also focusing on Decentralized RE developments in the State so that livelihood opportunities also get a push in the State in RE sector. The State is also pushing to develop storage technologies to get firm RE power. So RRECL with the support of stake holders is very optimistic about a robust RE sector future in Rajasthan.