Resource information
Renewable energy, especially solar
power, has been garnering a lot of interest from
governments, international development organizations, civil
society, and the private sector for the last few years.
There has been a huge surge in the popularity of this
important energy source from various stakeholders in India
as well. On the other hand, solar power presents a
formidable option for addressing pertinent issues being
faced in international geopolitical and national
macroeconomic arenas for the Government of India (GoI).
Though the World Bank, India considers all market segments
of solar power to be important; this report specifically
looks at the utility-scale grid-connected segment of solar
power in India. As one of the eight missions under
India's National Action Plan for Climate Change
(NAPCC), the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM)
was launched in January 2010 with the aim of accelerating
India's march toward grid parity in solar power. JNNSM
envisages the achievement of grid parity through long-term
and predictable policy, large-scale deployment, aggressive
research and development (R and D), and domestic production
of critical materials, components, and products along the
value chain. Phase one (2010-13) of JNNSM, still under
implementation, experienced enthusiastic participation from
Indian and international investors in the grid-connected
segment with substantial discounts to the benchmark tariffs
determined by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission
(CERC) for 500 megawatt (MW) each of solar thermal and solar
photovoltaic (PV) projects. Another unique feature of JNNSM
phase one has been the adoption of a reverse auction method
for awarding projects to qualified bidders. The GoI took
several proactive steps in phase one of the mission, such as
offering a bundling of solar power with unallocated
coal-based power through the National Thermal Power
Corporation (NTPC) Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (NVVN), implementing
a renewable purchase obligation (RPO) for solar power,
instituting a payment security scheme (PSS), and undertaking
certain measures for promoting local manufacturing, which
all combined to ensure the success of phase one.
