The investment boom is pegged at US $500 to $700 billion in renewable energy and grid infrastructure investment boom this decade, according to the latest report released by IEEFA
India’s gigawatt scale solar parks also called ultra-mega solar parks are spread out across the country. Two of these parks are amongst the largest solar projects that have been commissioned globally. The parks have attracted foreign capital and leading global developers are flocking to India to invest in these projects. The investment boom is pegged at US $500 to $700 billion in renewable energy and grid infrastructure investment boom this decade, according to the latest report released by IEEFA (Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis).
These mega solar parks are driving the clean energy transition and have been attracting the topmost developers in the sector. According to IEEFA’s report titled ‘India’s Utility-Scale Solar Parks – A Global Success Story,’ power tariffs, developers and the execution methodology have been highlights of these ambitious projects.
The ultra-mega power project entails a state government or distribution company (DISCOM) giving just a single central grid connection and procuring land on which the project is built, shielding developers from procurement and time-delay risks.
“This approach has driven economies of scale and attracted global capital into India’s renewable energy sector over the last five years, with an immediate boon in mid-2017 of halving solar tariffs to a record low of Rs2.44/kWh (US$39/MWh) at the prevailing exchange rate,” says author and IEEFA analyst, Kashish Shah.
These utility scale solar parks have surpassed project execution risk, off-taker risk and operation and maintenance risk. These are the three major risks that are linked to renewable energy developers in India.
According to the report released by the US based entity, India has nine ultra-mega solar parks with cumulative capacity of 14,693 MW (14.69 GW) capacity that are at different stages of construction. Out of this 6693 MW or 6.69 GW capacity is operational at the moment. 3000 MW is partially operational. 5000 MW is under construction. There are many ultra-mega solar parks with greater than 1 GW solar energy capacity. Two of these parks are among the largest solar projects that have been commissioned in the world. The Bhadla solar park in Rajasthan is the world’s largest solar project commissioned till today. The park is spread across an area of more than 14,000 acres with a capacity of 2,245 MW.
“It is worth looking back over the last four years to see just how far the Indian renewable energy industry has advanced,” says Shah in the report. “Indian utility-scale solar parks have kick started India’s energy sector transition. Amid myriad policy and project execution issues, India’s utility-scale solar park model has firmly stood its ground.”
Add Comment