Indian clean energy developers are urged to align their growth with demand
A power ministry advisor warned on Friday that India's renewable energy developers need to align their growth plans with realistic projections of demand in order to avoid infrastructure investments becoming unprofitable.
Ghanshyam Prsad, Chairman of the Central Electricity Authority, warned against the building of renewable capacity without matching demand growth. This is a problem the sector has experienced in the past.
Will we sell 60 GW if we add it next year? He said that the existing renewable capacity is still unsold.
Grid operators are forced to reduce power input in order to maintain system equilibrium because the supply of electricity is outpacing the demand.
According to a report published earlier this month, India has around 44 gigawatts of renewable energy projects that do not have supply agreements.
Prasad stated that India has suffered from thermal overcapacity for the last decade.
"Generators are at a loss." Some faced bankruptcy. "Let's not go back to a time of stressed assets," he said.
Prasad emphasized the importance of better communication between those who develop renewable energy and those who build transmission lines. He warned that just because transmission is ready, it does not mean the power will automatically be used.
"We have substations such as the one in Khavda, (in the western state Gujarat), with a capacity of 4,000 (megawatts). But only 300-500MW has been connected."
He encouraged developers to submit grid connections requests 24 to 36 months in advance, to ensure timely integration.
At the summit, several industry representatives said that India's transmission sector needs more comprehensive reforms.
"We can add capacity quickly, but we need to distribute it at the same pace via transmission." This investment is not being made because all the attention is focused on the generation end," Sanjeev Aggarwal said, the founder and executive chairman of Hexa Climate Solutions. Sethuraman N R reported from New Delhi and Clelia Oziel edited the story.
(source: Reuters)
