Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE)

20-Dec-2022: Major steps by Government to scale-up rooftop solar capacity in the country

Major steps taken to scale-up rooftop solar in the country, inter-alia, include:

Launch of Rooftop Solar Programme Ph-II with CFA for residential sector and incentives in slabs for the DISCOMs for achievement of additional RTS capacity in a year over and above the installed RTS capacity of the previous year.
Launch of National Portal where residential consumers from any part of the country can apply for installation of rooftop solar and get subsidy directly into his bank account under the Programme.
Development of online portals at DISCOM level and aggregation of demand relating to RTS projects.
Preparation of model MoU, PPA and Capex Agreement for expeditious implementation of RTS projects in Government Sector.
Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020 has been issued for net-metering up to five hundred Kilowatt or upto the electrical sanctioned load, whichever is lower.
Online portal developed for expediting project approval, report submission and monitoring progress of implementation of RTS projects.
Facilitation of concessional loans from multilateral agencies such as the World Bank.
Renewable energy included under priority sector lending guidelines of RBI.
Declaration of trajectory of renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) upto year 2030
Quality standards for deployment of solar photovoltaic system/ devises notified.
Innovative business models for RTS prescribed.
Information and public awareness activities through various mediums.

20-Dec-2022: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy signs a strategic sector cooperation agreement and letter of intent with Denmark to explore the sources of wind energy

A Strategic Sector Cooperation agreement and a letter of intent between the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate of the Kingdom of Denmark were signed on 06.03.2019. The cooperation agreement envisages achieving the following :-

Technical capacity building for management of off-shore wind project
Measures to develop and sustain a highly efficient wind industry, onshore as well as offshore
Measures to ensure high quality of wind turbines, components, and certification requirements
Forecasting and scheduling of off-shore wind
Any other area as may be mutually agreed upon

The letter of intent intended to establish a Centre of Excellence for Integrated Renewable Power in India inter alia focusing on Renewable energy resource assessment with focus on onshore and offshore wind, and Hybridisation of wind, solar, hydro, storage.

Government has taken several steps to promote renewable energy, including wind energy, in the country, including in the state of Gujarat. These, inter alia, include;

permitting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 100 percent under the automatic route,
waiver of Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) charges for inter-State sale of solar and wind power for projects to be commissioned by 30th June 2025,
declaration of trajectory for Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) up to the year 2030,
setting up of Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks to provide land and transmission to RE developers on a plug and play basis,
laying of new transmission lines and creating new sub-station capacity for evacuation of renewable power,
setting up of Project Development Cell for attracting and facilitating investments,
Standard Bidding Guidelines for tariff based competitive bidding process for procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV and Wind Projects,
Government has issued orders that power shall be dispatched against Letter of Credit (LC) or advance payment to ensure timely payment by distribution licensees to RE generators,
Notification of Promoting Renewable Energy through Green Energy Open Access Rules 2022,
Notification of Late Payment Surcharge and related matters Rules 2022.

In addition to the above, the following steps have, inter alia, been taken specifically for promoting wind energy:

declaration of trajectory for Wind Renewable Purchase Obligation (Wind RPO) up to the year 2030,
Concessional custom duty exemption on certain components required for manufacturing of wind electric generators,
Generation Based Incentive (GBI) is being provided to the wind projects commissioned on or before 31 March 2017,
Technical support including wind resource assessment and identification of potential sites through the National Institute of Wind Energy, Chennai.

20-Dec-2022: Government takes several initiatives to promote and create new markets in renewable energy sector

Government have taken several initiatives to for promotion and creation of new markets in the renewable energy sector. These include :

Permitting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 100 percent under the automatic route,
Waiver of Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) charges for inter-state sale of solar and wind power for projects to be commissioned by 30th June 2025,
Declaration of trajectory for Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) up to the year 2029-30,
Setting up of Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks to provide land and transmission to RE developers on a plug and play basis,
Schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM- KUSUM), Solar Rooftop Phase II, 12000 MW CPSU Scheme Phase II, etc.,
Laying of new transmission lines and creating new sub-station capacity under the Green Energy Corridor Scheme for evacuation of renewable power,
Setting up of Project Development Cell for attracting and facilitating investments,
Standard Bidding Guidelines for tariff based competitive bidding process for procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV and Wind Projects.
Government has issued orders that power shall be dispatched against Letter of Credit (LC) or advance payment to ensure timely payment by distribution licensees to RE generators.
Implementation of Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for solar PV manufacturers for Rs. 24,000 crores.
Imposing Basic Customs Duty on cells and modules to encourage domestic manufacturing
Notified the National Bioenergy Energy Programme with an outlay of Rs 858 Cr under Phase I to promote waste to energy, biomass and biogas programmes
Promulgated the Green Open Access Rules to enable the commercial and industrial sector to generate/procure energy for their own consumption.

8-Dec-2022: Manufacturing of Solar Cells

The Government has taken a number of steps to incentivise the manufacturing of solar cells domestically, namely:

Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS) Scheme of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology: The scheme mainly provides subsidy for capital expenditure i.e. 20% for investments in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and 25% in non-SEZs. The Scheme was open for applications till 31st December, 2018. The Scheme inter-alia covers solar PV cells, solar PV modules, EVA, backsheet and solar glass.
Domestic Content Requirement (DCR): Under some of the current schemes of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), namely CPSU Scheme Phase-II, PM-KUSUM component B and Grid-connected Rooftop Solar Programme Phase-II, wherein government subsidy is given, it has been mandated to source solar PV cells and modules from domestic sources.
Imposition of Basic Customs Duty on import of solar PV cells & modules: The Government has imposed Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on import of solar PV cells and modules with effect from 01.04.2022.
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for High Efficiency Solar PV Modules: The Government of India is implementing the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for National Programme on High Efficiency Solar PV Modules, for achieving domestic manufacturing capacity of Giga Watt (GW) scale in High Efficiency Solar PV modules and solar PV cells with outlay of Rs. 24,000 crore. This Scheme has provision for Production Linked Incentive (PLI) to the selected solar PV module manufacturers for five years post commissioning, on manufacture and sale of High Efficiency Solar PV modules.

31-Mar-2022: Schemes by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for Waste to Energy Plants

The Ministry has been implementing following schemes:

Scheme to Support Promotion of Biomass Based Cogeneration in Sugar Mills and Other industries in the Country;
Programme on Energy from Urban, Industrial, Agricultural Wastes/Residues and Municipal Solid Waste (“Waste to Energy Programme”);
New National Biogas and Organic Manure Programme(NNBOMP);
Biogas based Power Generation (Off-Grid) and Thermal Energy Applications Programme (BPGTP).

29-Mar-2022: Steps by Government to incentivize domestic manufacturing of Renewable Energy systems

In order to incentivize domestic manufacturing of Renewable Energy systems, the Government has taken a number of steps, including:

Solar Energy:

Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS) Scheme of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology.
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for High Efficiency Solar PV Modules.
Preference to ‘Make in India’ in Public Procurement in Renewable Energy Sector.
Domestic Content Requirement (DCR) under schemes such as CPSU Phase-II, PM-KUSUM, Solar Rooftop Phase-II, etc.
Imposition of Basic Customs Duty on import of solar PV cells & modules.
Discontinuation of Customs Duty Concession benefits.

Wind Energy: Government have put in place a system of Revised List of Models and Manufacturers, and only equipment manufactured by manufacturers in the list is allowed to be used for Wind Energy Projects. It also mandates that Hub and Nacelle assembly / manufacturing facility shall be in India. More than 70 percent of the wind equipment is manufactured in India.

22-Mar-2022: Steps by Government to promote Renewable Energy

The Government has taken several steps to promote renewable energy, including wind energy, in the country. These include:

permitting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 100 percent under the automatic route,
waiver of Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) charges for inter-state sale of solar and wind power for projects to be commissioned by 30th June 2025,
declaration of trajectory for Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) up to the year 2022,
setting up of Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks to provide land and transmission to RE developers on a plug and play basis,
laying of new transmission lines and creating new sub-station capacity for evacuation of renewable power,
setting up of Project Development Cell for attracting and facilitating investments,
Standard Bidding Guidelines for tariff based competitive bidding process for procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV and Wind Projects.
Government has issued orders that power shall be dispatched against Letter of Credit (LC) or advance payment to ensure timely payment by distribution licensees to RE generators.
Conducting skill development programmes to create a pool of skilled manpower for implementation, operation and maintenance of RE projects.

In addition to the above, the following steps have been taken specifically for promoting wind energy:

Concessional custom duty exemption on certain components required for manufacturing of wind electric generators.
Generation Based Incentive (GBI) is being provided to the wind projects commissioned on or before 31 March 2017.
Technical support including wind resource assessment and identification of potential sites through the National Institute of Wind Energy, Chennai.

22-Mar-2022: Government incentivizes local development and manufacturing of renewable energy technologies

The Government has taken a number of initiatives for incentivizing local development and manufacturing of renewable energy technologies, namely:

Modified Special Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS) Scheme of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology: The scheme mainly provides subsidy for capital expenditure – 20% for investments in Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and 25% in non-SEZs. The Scheme was open to receive applications till 31st December, 2018. The Scheme inter-alia covers solar PV cells, solar PV modules, EVA, backsheet and solar glass.
Preference to ‘Make in India’ in Public Procurement in Renewable Energy Sector: Through implementation of ‘Public Procurement (Preference to Make in India) Order’, procurement and use of domestically manufactured solar PV modules and domestically manufactured solar inverters has been mandated for Govt/ Govt. entities.
Domestic Content Requirement (DCR): Under some of the current schemes of the MNRE, namely CPSU Scheme Phase-II, PM-KUSUM and Grid-connected Rooftop Solar Programme Phase-II, wherein government subsidy is given, it has been mandated to source solar PV cells and modules from domestic sources.
Imposition of Basic Customs Duty on import of solar PV cells & modules: The Government has announced imposition of Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on import of solar PV cells and modules with effect from 01.04.2022.
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for High Efficiency Solar PV Modules: MNRE has issued the Scheme Guidelines for Production Linked Incentive Scheme ‘National Programme on High Efficiency Solar PV Modules’, with an outlay of Rs. 4,500 crores for supporting manufacturing of high efficiency solar PV modules by providing Production Linked Incentive (PLI) on sales of such solar PV modules. Letters of Award have been issued to the eligible successful bidders to the extent of funds allocated (i.e. the present scheme outlay of Rs. 4,500 crore). An additional outlay of Rs 19,500 crore has been announced in the Budget 2022- 23 on 1st February 2022.
Incentives to domestic manufacturing in Wind sector: Government has put in place a system of Revised List of Models and Manufacturers, and only equipment manufactured by manufacturers in the list is allowed to be used for Wind Energy Projects. It also mandates that Hub and Nacelle assembly / manufacturing facility shall be in India. More than 70 percent of the equipment is manufactured in India.
‘Renewable Energy Research and Technology Development Programme’ of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE): The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) supports a scheme “Renewable Energy Research and Technology Development Programme” through various research institutions and industry to enable indigenous technology development and manufacture of new and renewable energy in the country. MNRE encourages research and technology development proposals in collaboration with the industry and provides upto 100% financial support to Government/non-profit research organizations and upto 50-70% to Industry, Start-ups, Private Institutes, Entrepreneurs and Manufacturing units. An amount of Rs. 62.47 crore has been spent in the last three years for this scheme.

30-Nov-2021: Steps taken to promote renewable energy sources in the country

At present, the Government has set a target for achieving 175 GW of Renewable Energy capacity by the year 2022. A total of 150 GW renewable energy capacity (including large hydro) has been installed in the country till date. Further, projects of 63.64 GW capacity are under various stages of implementation and 32.06 GW capacity are under various stages of bidding. Therefore, a total of 245.70 GW capacity has either been installed or under various stages of implementation /bidding.

The Government has taken several steps to promote renewable energy sources in the Country. These include:-

Permitting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 100 percent under the automatic route,
Waiver of Inter State Transmission System (ISTS) charges for inter-state sale of solar and wind power for projects to be commissioned by 30th June 2025,
Laying of new transmission lines and creating new sub-station capacity for evacuation of renewable power,
Declaration of trajectory for Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) up to the year 2022,
Setting up of RE parks to provide land and transmission to RE developers on a plug and play basis,
Schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PMKUSUM), Solar Rooftop Phase II, 12000 MW CPSU Scheme Phase II, etc.,
Notification of standards for deployment of solar photovoltaic system/devices,
Setting up of Project Development Cell for attracting and facilitating investments,
Standard Bidding Guidelines for tariff based competitive bidding for procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV and Wind Projects.
Government has issued orders that power shall be dispatched against Letter of Credit (LC) or advance payment to ensure timely payment by distribution licensees to RE generators.
Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) launched to facilitate procurement of RE power through power exchange in the country.

13-Oct-2021: Green Grids Initiative-One Sun One World One Grid Northwest Europe Cooperative Event

Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India, Shri R K Singh, addressed the Ministerial session of the Green Grids Initiative-One Sun One World One Grid Northwest Europe Cooperative Event. The event saw the participation of Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of the United Kingdom, Rt. Hon. Kwasi Kwarteng, and the Minister of Energy of Belgium, Ms. Tinne Van der Straeten. Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Dr. Junaid Ahmad, Country Director, World Bank India provided insights into the work that is being undertaken toward the initiative.

Shri Singh affirmed India’s commitment to the environment and the cause of clean energy and energy transition, and highlighted India’s target of achieving 450 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030. He underlined that India is well on its way to achieving its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) relating clean energy and emission reduction well ahead of the target date. Acknowledging the challenges presented by the intermittent nature of solar and wind energy sources, and by the high cost of energy storage, Mr. Singh presented the GGI-OSOWOG initiative as a possible solution for driving down the need for storage and in effect reduce the costs of the energy transition.

Secretary Kawsi Kwarteng stated that accelerating global power transition is a top priority for the UK as it leads the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) as its President. Mr. Kwaretng appreciated the innovative work that has been done by the ISA and India toward developing OSOWOG. Extending UK’s support behind the GGI-OSOWOG initiative, he emphasized the country’s intentions of strengthening international collaborations well beyond COP26.

Wilton Park, the executive agency of United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) hosted a two-day programme for a strategic discussion on the Green Grids Initiative-One Sun One World One Grid (GGI-OSOWOG). The event titled the Northwest Europe Cooperative Event saw a multi-layered dialogue between the One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) initiative and the project in Northwest Europe for developing cross-border trading of renewable electricity.

Minister Van Der Straeten of Belgium emphasized the need for action by political leaders and engagement from all countries big and small to invest in the energy of tomorrow. Ms. Van Der Straeten remarked that with the GGI-OSOWOG initiative, cost effective solar power could be delivered to Belgium all the way from India.

Director General of ISA, Dr. Mathur provided an insight on the work going on behind the scenes as GGI-OSOWOG is being transformed into a full-fledged project. Dr. Mathur mentioned that sustainable development and climate change mitigation are at the heart of the GGI-OSOWOG initiative, and that the scale of the project could very well make it the next biggest modern engineering marvel.

The idea for the One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) initiative was put forth by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi, at the First Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in October 2018. He had called for connecting solar energy supply across borders. In May 2021, the United Kingdom and India agreed to combine forces of the Green Grids Initiative and the One Sun One World One Grid initiative and jointly launch GGI-OSOWOG at the COP26 summit being hosted by the UK at Glasgow in November 2021.

8-Oct-2021: India set to achieve 450 GW renewable energy installed capacity by 2030: MNRE

Addressing the MNRE-FICCI – SECI event at Expo 2020 Dubai today, Shri R.K. Singh, Minister of Power, New and Renewable Energy, emphasized that the world is on the cusp of transformation, and immediate corrective steps are needed to mitigate climate change. He highlighted that energy transition needs to be the first step in this direction.

He said that India is already ahead of what we pledged in our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) saying that, “Already 39% of our capacity is from non-fossil based sources. By 2022 we will reach our target of 40%.”

Highlighting that transmission is a challenge and getting it into place is a work in progress, he said, “We are launching the Green Corridor Phase 2 and we are generally expanding transmission to put in place renewable power evacuation systems from where irradiation is high, or wind speed is high.”

Shri Singh also said that intermittency of renewable power is another challenge for the entire world highlighting that battery storage per unit currently is high at USD 200 per Megawatt-hour and needs to come down. “We are coming out with a huge bid of 1,000 Megawatt-hours by the end of this month of storage. We will come out with three more bids of 1,000 Megawatt-hours each and thereafter we are planning to come out with a bid for 13-14 Gigawatt-hour for Howrah”, he added. MNRE is also setting up a 10 Gigawatt RE capacity and is proposing to set up 14 Gigawatt-hour storage capacity in Ladakh.

There is a Production Linked Incentive for battery storage already in place and demand needs to be encouraged to bring down the prices of storage, Shri Singh added, and called on other developed countries to ramp up battery storage capacity to Gigawatt scale volumes to bring down prices.

Speaking on the opportunities for green hydrogen in India, Shri Singh said, “We are coming out with huge bids for electrolysers. Our first bid for hydrogen will require 8,800 Megawatt of electrolyser capacity. We are also putting mandates on green hydrogen for refining, fertilizer, piped natural gas.”

He also announced that, “We will first have a Production Linked Incentive for putting in electrolyser capacity in place and then we will come out with bids for green hydrogen.” “We also plan to put out bids for conversion of ships to run on green ammonia and fuel cell”, he added.

MNRE is coming out with a new policy on green tariff where the rules for green tariffs are being regularised and will open up free transmission for anyone that sets up green energy capacity with a future of prosumers where people generate and consume their own green energy.

Shri Singh also said that SECI has had promising growth and is expected to continue this momentum as new and emerging areas in the clean energy space are set for a boom and stated his vision of SECI becoming an energy conglomerate of the new world. India has embarked on an exciting journey and is treading where no one has ventured before, and SECI will continue to work towards meeting the ambition of 450 GW by 2030.

Shri Bhagwanth Khuba, Minister of State, New and Renewable Energy, Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India said on the first day of the event, that the energy sector is set to undergo a drastic transformation across the globe and the future belongs to the renewable energy. “This is going to be a collective effort and our energy transition will be inclusive and equitable so that no one is left behind. We welcome all our partners to come and invest in India and join us in this incredible journey,” he added.

He further said that in view of the 175 GW installed RE capacity by 2022 announced in 2015 by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India surpassed 100 GW milestone (excluding large hydro) in 2021. He also added that as of now India has only tapped a fraction of the vast potential for renewable energy and, therefore, India has raised the target to 450 GW RE installed capacity by 2030.

Inviting global stakeholders, on day two of the events, Mr. Khuba reiterated the benefits of investing in India’s RE sector and highlighted that ensuring Ease of Doing Business has been India’s utmost priority. “We have established dedicated Project Development Cell (PDC) and FDI Cell in all ministries for handholding and facilitating domestic and foreign investors. 100 percent FDI is also permitted through direct automatic route,” he emphasized.

Giving the Keynote Address on the theme of Renewable Energy in India: Emerging Areas and Opportunities, Shri Khuba added that India is set to tap into more than 70 Gigawatt of off-shore wind potential. “India now has decided to ramp up its solar module manufacturing capacity. The Government of India has recently launched the Production Linked Incentive scheme for the manufacture of High Efficiency Solar PV Modules. We expect to add 10 Gigawatt of solar PV manufacturing capacity over the next five years”, he said

He further added, “Green hydrogen is going to play an important role in decarbonizing our economy especially in the hard-to-decarbonise sector. India is developing the National Green Hydrogen Energy Mission to scale up green hydrogen production and utilization across multiple sectors.” India is targeting initially approximately 1 million tonnes annual green hydrogen production by 2030, he said.

“Green hydrogen will be key to our energy transition goals. We intend to increase our electrolyser manufacturing capacity and undertaking process re-engineering to accommodate green hydrogen in key sectors. The green hydrogen economy in India is an excellent rewarding opportunity for global investors”, Shri Khuba added.

Shri Khuba also proudly said that for the RE sector, USD 5.6 billion equity inflow has been received in the last five years which speaks volumes about India’s emergence as one of the most attractive destinations for investment into RE.

India’s ambitious target of 450 GW opens up investment opportunities to the tune of USD 221 billion by 2030. This will be a long-term investment into sustainable development for our future generations, he added. “I invite partner countries and business leaders of the world to come and join us in this unprecedented journey we are undertaking”, said Shri Khuba.

Mr. Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India said that the current RE capacity additions in India is a result of public policy to a large extent and the private sector has played a key role in achieving this. “Going forward, more and more firms in the renewable energy and storage space will also come in a big way to support the generation projects or as part of transmission projects,” he added.

He further stated that the government is making policy ecosystem more favourable to the RE sector which makes it obligatory for the Discoms to buy renewable energy. The market mechanisms will also be further strengthened, and energy exchanges will see more prominence.

On the topic of the general investment climate in India’s RE sector and new and emerging areas of opportunities for investors, Mr. Chaturvedi said yesterday that MNRE is making continuous efforts towards ease of business reforms and issues are addressed on a regular basis. Some of these are a set of robust RE bidding guidelines, dispute resolution mechanism, among others due to which investment in the sector has increased exponentially in the last seven years to about USD 70 billion.

Mr. Chaturvedi listed three new areas of emerging opportunities for investors – green hydrogen, off-shore wind, and solar PV manufacturing. The mandatory purchase obligations are intended to increase use of green hydrogen in sectors like fertilizers, petroleum refining, and city gas distribution. Creating this scale will keep prices low for consumers, he said. Large investments will be required to meet the demand for 8 GW of electrolyser capacity for green hydrogen by 2030.

“On-shore wind potential is about 695 GW in addition to the 70 GW off-shore potential”, he added noting that Government support and investments from domestic and foreign players will be required over the next few years. This will give a fillip to already robust market for wind power manufacturing in India. Led by bids from the PLI scheme for solar PV modules, Mr. Chaturvedi also said that 55 GW of capacity will require over INR 80,000 crore of investment. A large amount of this investment will be directed towards the production of polysilicon modules and wafer-ingots.

During the MNRE-IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency) event today, Mr. Chaturvedi further added that RE being a continuously evolving area for India would require investment of over USD 230 billion and, therefore, the role of special funding agencies like IREDA become crucial for fulfilling this requirement.

Speaking on SECI’s role in India’s energy transition, Mr. Chaturvedi praised SECI’s successful journey so far in clean energy deployment and stated that SECI will evolve to foray into emerging areas like green hydrogen, battery storage and solar PV manufacturing.

The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) in partnership with FICCI, organised a series of events, from October 6th-8th, 2021at Expo 2020 Dubai. The events covered the themes of India's Renewable Energy Achievements and Ambitions, Emerging Areas and Opportunities for renewable energy in India including focussed events anchored by the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA)’s journey highlighting the success and achievements on the road to 450 GW by 2030.

8-Jun-2021: MNRE to conduct series of webinars on achievements in New & Renewable Energy

As part of the Government of India’s plan to commemorate 75 years of India’s Independence (Bharat Ka Amrut Mahotsav) by organizing events to celebrate the achievements of the last 75 years, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), has been conducting a series of webinars on achievements in new and renewable energy for 75 weeks starting from 15th March 2021.

A five week program in this regard has been drawn for Standards and Quality Control activities, during June 2021 to March 2022. The webinars will be addressed by key speakers on the important topics followed by interaction with participants.

The focus of the program on Standards and Quality Control being organized from 7th to 12th June 2021 is on policy and practices in standard development and also measures for quality assurance in the renewable energy sector. This webinar will be followed by technology-wise weekly webinars; SPV Modules in August 2021, SPV inverter and battery storage in November 2021, Solar Thermal Systems and Wind Turbines in Jan 2022 and SHP and Biogas Plant/Power Systems in March 2022.

The objective of these webinars is to share the experiences of participants including international agencies for strengthening standards development and quality infrastructure in the country. Participants include experts from R&D/academic institutions, test labs, Standards Development Bodies (both domestic and international), regulatory agencies, conformity assessment agencies, accreditation agencies, policy makers, industries, project developers, financiers, project implementing agencies, etc.

The First Week of webinars (7th -12th June 2021) will be addressed by key speakers from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), National Institute of Wind Energy(NIWE), Chennai, NABL, New Delhi, British Standards Institute(BSI), UK, CSIR(NPL), Delhi, TUV Rhineland, Bengaluru, PTB Germany, with panelists from NISE, NIWE, IIT Bombay, IIT Chennai, CEA, CSIR(CECRI), CSIR(NPL), SECI, BIS, NABL, UL India Pvt Ltd., BHEL, PTB, Germany.

The Standards and Quality Control activities of MNRE focus on streamlining the process for development of standards and implementation. A Lab Policy on Testing, Standardization and Performance Certification was notified by MNRE in December 2017. Earlier, on 5th September 2017 MNRE has notified Quality Control Order under BIS Act (Compulsory Registration) for quality control of SPV Modules, inverters and battery storage systems used in SPV power projects. The MNRE in November 2020 also recommended to BIS to adopt one standard for one product approach.

25-Mar-2021: Measures to Achieve Energy Transition Towards Clean Energy

Government of India has set a target for installing 175 GW of Renewable Energy capacity (excluding large hydro) by the end of 2021-22 which includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from Biomass and 5 GW from Small Hydro.

In order to become self-reliant in power generation and achieving energy transition towards clean energy, Government has inter-alia taken following measures:

The renewable energy capacity to go up to 450 GW.
Phase-wise retirement of old polluting coal based power plants.
Setting up of Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks to provide land and transmission to RE developers on a plug and play basis.
Schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Surakshaevam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM), Solar Rooftop Phase II, 12000 MW CPSU Scheme Phase II, etc.
Laying of new transmission lines and creating new sub-station capacity under the Green Energy Corridor Scheme for evacuation of renewable power.
Notifying Bidding Guidelines for tariff based competitive bidding process for procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV and Wind Projects.
Declaring Large Hydro Power (LHPs) (>25 MW projects) as Renewable Energy source.
Hydro Purchase Obligation (HPO) as a separate entity within Non-solar Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO).
Tariff rationalization measures for bringing down hydro power tariff.
Budgetary Support for Flood Moderation/Storage Hydro Electric Projects (HEPs).
Budgetary Support to Cost of Enabling Infrastructure, i.e. roads/bridges for hydro projects.
1. ₹ 1.5 crore per MW for projects upto 200 MW
2. ₹ 1.0 crore per MW for projects above 200 MW.