India has an incredible solar power resources, with the country receiving around 5,000 trillion kilowatt hours of energy and most areas receiving 4 – 7 kilowatt hours per square meter per day. The Government of India intends to make good use of this potential.
In May, we reported on some initial details of the country’s National Solar Mission and further information has become available after a leaking of the final draft of plan.
According to the document, the objective of India’s National Solar Mission to to establish the country as a global leader in solar energy through:
– 20,000 MW of installed solar generation capacity by 2020, 100,000 MW by 2030 and 200,000 MW by 2050.
– Solar power cost reduction to achieve grid tariff parity by 2020
– 4-5 GW of installed solar panel manufacturing by 2017
– Achieve parity with coal fired power generation by 2030
Phase one of the plan to occur between this year and 2012 will be a rapid scaling up of solar technology to drive down costs and spur a thriving domestic solar panel manufacturing base. There will be increased promotion and assistance in the development of commercial scale solar farms, predominantly solar PV. Also mandated will be mass deployment of solar panel arrays in government and public buildings.
Under the plan, solar generation capacity will reach at least 5% of totaled installed capacity of all thermal plants based on coal, gas and oil by the end of 2012.
Also included in the first phase will be the introduction of solar feed in tariffs, solar micro-grid installations for remote villages, the establishment of 2-3 large scale solar thermal plants and the rollout of solar lighting for 3 million households.
While India’s goals may seem lofty, the issue of electricity generation in the country is becoming critical, with many areas experiencing frequent blackouts. With the challenges of climate change, a burgeoning population, increased fossil fuel prices and rivers powering hydro-electric generation drying up facing the country; turning to one of its most plentiful resources, the sun, makes good environmental and economic sense.
Greenpeace has obtained a full copy of the draft, which can be viewed here (PDF)
