India's on-grid solar power development: Historical transitions, present status and future driving forces

Enayat A Moallemi,Lu Aye,John M Webb,Fjalar J De Haan,Biju A George

doi:10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.032

Enayat A Moallemi, Lu Aye + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.032

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Abstract

India with a fast growing demand for electricity and increasing consideration to emissions reduction is investing strongly in renewable electricity generation. Among renewables, the Central and State Governments have set aspirational targets for on-grid solar electricity and legislated several supporting policies to realise these targets. As a result of the favourable political environment, the development of on-grid solar, in terms of the rate of growth in installed capacity, has been increasing in the recent years, and it is expected to continue in the future. This paper aims to investigate the impact of historical transitions of India's electricity sector on the ongoing development of on-grid solar electricity and to explore the prospect of solar sector development in the future. First of all, we investigate how the historical transformation of governmental intervention's approach intertwined with the gradual shift of the source of generation has paved the way for the current achievements in on-grid solar electricity. Second, we envision the future challenges and opportunities for the development of solar sector by looking ahead and discussing the continuity of government's support and the prospective competitions between different sources. We conclude the paper with some required steps to be taken in order to secure the achievement of the targets in solar electricity in the future.

Highlights

India as the second most populous country is currently experiencing a steep economic growth and subsequently, a rapidly growing energy demand
One question raised at the beginning of the paper was: how has the ongoing development of solar electricity been built upon the privatisation of electricity sector and the empowerment of renewable energy in the past? The review of the historical transitions in governmental intervention's approach and in the source of electricity generation can answer this question
The recent growth in on-grid solar electricity cannot be fully understood unless by analysing the historical transitions in electricity generation that have laid the ground for this growth

Summary

Introduction

India as the second most populous country is currently experiencing a steep economic growth and subsequently, a rapidly growing energy demand. Urbanisation, economic development of society, the expansion of industry and the development of new services have contributed to a sharp increase in electricity demand. To cover this growing demand, 20 GW of new generation capacity will be required annually by 2020 [2]. The (on-grid) installed capacity from different sources has been increased appreciably in the past couple of years. Despite the high level of electricity generation, the country still suffers from about 10% generation deficit of total electricity demand, which puts almost 300 million people with no access to electricity [3,4]

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