Renewable energy sector looks at storage for succour

Things are not all that good in the Indian renewable energy sector, a crucial industry for the country to meet its commitment at the Paris agreement of 2015. To know why, one needs to take a disaggregated view of the picture.

Renewable energy has three distinct segments, each with its unique features—large-scale solar, rooftop and distributed solar and wind. ‘Large-scale’ solar is not doing too badly, though way short of the target. At the end of March 2021, India had 35.5 GW of large-scale solar plants, with another 53.6 GW in the pipeline of which 24 GW had been tendered-out. Good, even if not great.

Target vs achievement
Rooftop and distributed solar is the sub-segment that can give the biggest bang for the buck, as it can produce energy right at the point of consumption and create massive employment—but it has tripped on regulatory impediments. Against the target of 40 GW to be achieved by the end of 2022, the country today has 5.5 GW of RTS/distributed solar; compared with the potential of about 130 GW, the performance is seen to be even more anemic.

As for wind, the less said the better, because against the promise of a phenomenal growth, it is limping on bleeding limbs. Last year, the wind sector added a GW; only a couple of years ago, industry insiders used to believe that India is a 10 GW market.