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Power From Renewables

Grid-interactive Renewable Power

Bio Power (Agro residues) 605.80 MW

Wind Power 7,844.57 MW

Small Hydro (up to 25 MW) 2,045.61 MW

Cogeneration-bagasse 719.83 MW

Waste to Energy 55.20 MW

Solar Power 2.12 MW

Distributed Renewable Power

Biomass Cogen (non-bagasse) 95.00 MW

Biomass Gasifier 86.53 MWeq

Waste-to-Energy 23.71 MWeq

(Grid Interactive+Distributed) 11,478.36 MW

Remote Village Electrification

3,368 villages + 830 hamlets

Decentralized Energy Systems

Family Type Biogas Plants 3.94 million

Solar Photovoltaic Program 110 MWp

Solar Street Lighting Units 69,549 nos.

Home Lighting Units 3,63,399 nos.

Solar Lantern 5,85,001 nos.

Solar Power Plants 2180.00 kWp

Solar Thermal Program

Solar Heating 2.15 mill sq.m

Solar Cookers 6,17,000

Wind Pumps 1,284 nos.

Aero-generator/Hybrid 675.27 kW

Solar Photovoltaic Pumps 7,068 nos.

Other Programs

Energy Parks 504 nos.

Akshay Urja Shops 269 nos.

Battery Operated Vehicle 270 nos.

Research, Design, Develop. 600 projects

MWe = Megawatt equivalent; MW = Megawatt; kW = kilowatt; kWp = kilowatt peak; sq. m. = square meter

Source: MNRE, 1 January 2008.

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Key Renewable Energy Technologies

India's main achievements in the renewable energy (RE) sector have been in developing wind power, solar energy -- both thermal and photovoltaic, biomass and small hydro technologies. The following table highlights key RE technologies, their energy output forms, maturity levels, and key vendors.

Technology

Energy

Maturity

Vendors (India)

Wind energy

Pumping

Onshore wind turbines

Offshore wind turbines

Movement

Electricity

Small wind machines, widely applied

Widely applied commercially

Development/demonstration phase

Wind turbine manufacturers

Biomass energy

Combustion (dom.)

Combustion (ind.)

Gasification/power

Gasification / fuel production

Hydrolysis and fermentation

Pyrolysis/production of liquid fuels

Pyrolysis/production of solid fuels

Extraction

Digestion

Heat

Process heat, steam

Electricity, heat (CHP)

Hydrocarbons, methanol, H2

Ethanol

Bio-oils

Charcoal

Biodiesel

Biogas

Widely applied

Demonstration phase

Development phase

Commercially applied for sugar crops; production from wood under development

Pilot phase; some technical barriers

Widely applied; wide range of efficiencies

Applied; relatively expensive

Commercially applied

Biogas burner manufacturers

Gasifier manufacturers

Solar energy

Photovoltaic solar energy conversion

Solar thermal electricity

Low-temperature solar energy use

Passive solar energy use

Artificial photosynthesis

Electricity

Heat, steam, electricity

Heat heating, cooking, drying)

Heat, cold, light, ventilation

H2 or hydrogen rich fuels

Widely applied; rather expensive; further development needed

Demonstrated; further development needed

Collectors/cookers applied; drying demonstrated and applied

Demonstrations and applications; no active parts

Fundamental and applied research

Solar cell module manufacturers

Solar water heater manufacturers

Solar air heater manufacturers

Solar cooker manufacturers

Other vendors

Waste-to-energy

Heat, electricity

Commercially applied; small and large scale applications

Project Consultants

Technology Providers

Hydropower

Power, electricity

Commercially applied; small and large scale applications

Small hydro turbine manufacturers

Geothermal energy

Heat, steam, electricity

Commercially applied

Geothermal equipment manufacturers

Marine energy

Tidal energy

Wave energy

Current energy

Ocean thermal energy conversion

Salinity gradient / osmotic energy

Marine biomass production

Electricity

Heat, electricity

Electricity

Fuels

Applied; relatively expensive

Research, development, and demonstration phase

Research and development phase

Research, development, and demonstration phase

Theoretical option

Research and development phase

Wave and tidal energy equipment suppliers (global)

Source: New Energy India Research, 2008; World Energy Assessment: Energy And The Challenge Of Sustainability Report, 2002; MNRE, 2007.

Barriers to RE Technology Adoption

Commercialization barriers

To compete against mature fossil fuel and nuclear technologies renewables must overcome two major barriers to commercialization: undeveloped infrastructure and lack of economies of scale. Developing new renewable resources will require large initial investments to build infrastructure. As long as relatively few units are produced, prices will remain high.

Price distortion

There are existing subsidies and unequal tax burdens between RE technologies and other energy sources. Compared with renewables, nuclear and fossil fuel technologies enjoy a considerable advantage in government subsidies for research and development

Institutional barriers

Commercial and industrial customers are also generally unfamiliar with renewables and have institutional barriers to purchasing renewables. Industrial energy managers are trained only to find low-cost solutions. Industrial environmental managers look for ways to reduce in-house pollution and are unlikely to consider pollution associated with their electricity purchases.

Little Influencing Power

Renewable energy projects and companies are generally small. These small companies are less able to communicate directly with large numbers of customers. They have less clout negotiating favorable terms with larger market players. And they are rarely able to participate in regulatory or legislative proceedings.

High transaction costs

Small projects have high transaction costs at many stages of the development cycle. For example, it costs more for financial institutions to evaluate the credit-worthiness of many small projects than of one large project.

High financing costs

Renewables developers and customers may have difficulty obtaining financing at rates as low as may be available for conventional energy facilities.

Operational issues

Most states charge discriminatory banking and wheeling charges for transmitting power from renewables. This is due to the uncertainty around electricity that such systems can pump into the transmission grids at any point.

Efficiency constraints

Since RE technologies (mainly solar, hydel, and wind) depend on availability of resources, the promoters have no raw material control (sunlight, water, and wind speed), the efficiency from such projects is typically much lower than the efficiency of conventional fossil-fuel based power plants.