Manu Srivastava, Principal Secretary, Madhya Pradesh of MW Rewa project fame that broke grid parity and supplied power to Delhi Metro speaks to Sudheer Goutham on RE projects and the state of affairs in MP as well as the country
Q. In the year 2015-16, Madhya Pradeshwas a top state in achieving 24 percent RE projects. Where does Madhya Pradesh stand now?
I would rate the achievement not that much in quantum but made a change possible in the way things were done in this sector. There are two categories of projects, one is in solar where there are multi-parks on the ground and other are roof-top projects. We have been able to bring fundamental changes in how the projects are run in the country.
Q. Tell us about REWA project.
Before REWA came up, solar energy was costlier than coal based energy. Government of India gave subsidy for solar energy despite being costly. REWA established the fact that there can be a project without subsidy and it can bring down the rate below coal. It brought the price of solar below coal and was done without any subsidy. I was the first chairperson of REWA Ultra Mega Solar (RUMS) and it was set up in 2015. The project did better than big Government of India companies as with subsidy power was given at Rs 4.5 and we could give it at below Rs 3.
It is the only project which is supplying power to institutional customers. Delhi Metro Rail is running on this project and during the day time and 60 percent of its energy demand is met from this project. It has led to savings of Rs 100 crore, annually.
This project got World Bank President Award, case study being used in Harvard University and Singapore University. The biggest achievement of this project is that Government of India has issued standard bidding guidelines incorporating the principles of this project. All projects in India are run on those SOP’s. That has been most satisfying as the project could establish principles of working and those have been adopted for future projects.
Q. What about rooftop solar project?
A model is established where a building can have a rooftop without any investment and can make savings from Day 1. Madhya Pradesh has over 100 projects in the state. Message is simple: Savings from day 1 and zero investment.
It is very satisfying for me to say that now NITI Aayog is working to replicate this project all over the country to set it in up in health institutions. This project is called SUBHAY which will be replicated across the country.
Q. Where does India stand in terms of renewable energy generation?
What India has achieved is much more than it has committed. There were observations that India has made commitments far beyond its capacity. It is a matter of pride for us that whatever commitment was made before the world by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Paris Climate Conference we have been able to live up to it.
We had said that we would have 100 gigawatt of solar by 2022 and we have achieved our target as we have 150 gigawatt of renewable energy. More importantly India has established the point that if you bring projects to scale than you can bring down the cost. This has been wonderfully demonstrated in India.
What has happened in India has not taken place completely through government investments. It is not that government has invested the money; it is the private sector money that has come in.
Government has made available the right policy framework, right structure, right environment for private investors. They can recover the money in the next 25 years. This model needs to be replicated in other countries. The International Solar Alliance set up by India and France is again an attempt in the same direction. It is to establish the point that solar is viable.
Q. Which renewable energy is the best in terms of cost cutting, grid management and clean energy?
It depends upon the location. In coastal areas, the wind velocity is good and wind is the energy of choice. In large parts of the country where Sun is good, then it would be the energy of choice.
Learning really is that global investment that is required to deal with climate change cannot come from government budgets. It has to come from private investments. Responsibility of the government is to ensure that private investment is safe. If this environment is created that the return on investments would be low as private investors are sure that they will get their money during the project period. Safe investments and certain returns will bring a lot of investors.
In the REWA project, we said that power has to be brought by the state utilities. Power distribution companies are loss making and that makes investors doubtful whether they will get their money. For that reason, we had Government of Madhya Pradesh guarantee that if the utility does not pay you in time then government would pay. This guarantee is a lot to address the apprehensions of investors and that played a key role. Addressing investor risk is important for governments and World Bank which will allow money to flow and that will address the risk factors which will go a long way in procuring power at low rates.
Q. What should State renewable energy departments do?
Every other responsibility is given to NTPC. The sector can do with more innovations. Apart from the REWA project, we took up the project of supplying power to Indian Railways. This is also doing very well.
States can play a similar role as the promise made by Prime Minister of India applies to all the States and can be fulfilled only with their compliance. Responsibility of fulfilling requires that States stand shoulder-toshoulder with government of India organizations. In the rooftop project too, state governments play a keyrole and there are a large number of state government buildings like collectorates, government offices, zilla panchayat buildings, schools, colleges, medical colleges, hospitals and many others should have solar rooftops.
I am working with Niti Ayog on Sun’s Blessings and Health (SuBah) for such projects in the health departments of states. I would request the health departments to come forward.
Right now the big achievement that India has made is using of LED bulbs. Apart from that energy efficiency of buildings is viable. We must focus on things that have economic viability. Rooftop is the most viable and leads to very good savings. Take for instance, IIM Indore was getting power at Rs 7 per unit and now they are using solar and power is at Rs 1.30 paise.
Q. What is the future of energy in India?
Prices of renewable energy are already below coal. Now the challenges are in integration. Solar energy is available during daytime and wind when it blows. The next big thing is storage of energy.Once that happens that will be the sunset of fossil fuels.Another challenge is the health of distribution companies (Discoms)which depends on good governance of the country.
Q. We have electric vehicle policy but we do not see it coming on the roads. Where are we in terms of EV?
I am personally using electric vehicle for four years and there is no problem. Infrastructure is now coming up. The most important aspect in Electric Vehicles is that world over it has come up in the most affluent section of the society. In India, it is the threewheelers and two wheelers who are driving the change.
In India, affluent people have not opted for the change. The threewheeler walas are the biggest messengers of EV. For them it is not the ice in Antarctica melting or the fear of climate change. What is driving them is their bread and butter and their choice is economics.
In regions of Agra, Delhi we have a regulatory push for clean energy. Regulatory push there is a change that has been opted. Two-wheelers are also the biggest push, capital cost is less than scooter or motorcycle and with petrol and diesel becoming more expensive these youngsters are opting for EV.
There is also a need to get a common unified charger for EV. There must be standards set for that which will encourage batteries to be swapped. There are lots of ministries which are working on it and this multisectoral interest will go a long way in getting EV on the roads.
Q. How important is the role of technology in energy sector?
Science and technology has made it possible. When solar energy was at Rs 20 per unit, there were not much takers and it was a vicious cycle but that is not so now.
The government of Gujarat brought the solar power at a very expensive rate but it is such decisions which enabled solar cycle to turn from vicious cycle to virtuous cycle. It is because of decisions taken at that time that solar has moved from Rs 20 per unit to Rs 1.30 paise in the market.
Q. Tell us about global collaborations for renewable energy?
A large part of components that we are using were developed in other countries. We are now trying to locally produce these products in India as well. The International Solar Alliance is to carry the alliance to other countries especially those developing countries which are not considered investment ready till now.
India can export the renewable energy power and push out coal-based energy. Renewable energy can be provided to countries like South Africa and other small countries at low cost.
Q. The civil services is that of a generalist but you have been working on RE for a long time. Your comments.
I have been fortunate that there is some synergy between what I studied and what I have pursued. In my initial years of service as collector and similar postings in the field, after that I have entirely been in the energy sector. I have looked after natural gas, electricity and then renewable energy