New Delhi: Non-fossil fuel sources account for nearly 44 per cent of India’s total installed electricity generation capacity, RK Singh, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy and Power stated in a written reply to a question, in Rajya Sabha.
The Minister also informed the House that the National Green Hydrogen Mission was expected to reduce the quantum of imported fossil fuels by ₹ 1 lakh crore by 2030.
He said that the National Green Hydrogen Mission is expected to lead to the development of 5 MMT Green Hydrogen production capacity per annum by 2030. Green Hydrogen has the potential to replace fossil fuels including natural gas, either as a source of energy or as a feedstock, thereby contributing to a reduction in dependence on the import of fossil fuels.
The Mission envisages the substitution of Grey Hydrogen with Green Hydrogen in industries such as fertilizer production, petroleum refining, steel, shipping, etc., thus reducing carbon footprint and dependence on imported fossil fuels.
For the production of 1 kg of green hydrogen via electrolysis, around 10 litres of demineralized water are needed. Accordingly, the demineralized water requirement for 5 MMT Green Hydrogen production per annum will be about 50 Million Cubic Meters (MCM) per annum.
The majority of the Green Hydrogen production plants are expected to come up near port locations as per the industry feedback. In such cases, desalinized seawater could also be used for Green Hydrogen production.
Since water is a state subject, the project developers will have to comply with the State regulations for securing the water supply.
The Minister said that as per the updated Nationally Determined Contributions submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Government of India has committed to achieving 50% non-fossil-based installed electricity capacity by 2030.
So far, a total of 186.46 GW capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources has been installed in the country as of October 31, 2023, which includes 178.98 GW of renewable energy and 7.48 GW of nuclear power. In addition, 114.08 GW of capacity is under implementation and 55.13 GW capacity is under tendering. The share of non-fossil fuel sources in India’s total installed electricity generation capacity reached 43.82% as of October 31, 2023.
Renewable Energy Projects are being implemented in all the States and Union Territories of the Country and the following specific measures/steps have been undertaken to promote the development of renewable energy in the country:
- Permitting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) up to 100 per cent 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,
- Specifying the minimum share of consumption of non-fossil resources by designated consumers, including Distribution Companies, up to 2029-30,
- Setting up of Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks to provide land and transmission to RE developers for installation of RE projects at large scale,
- Schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (PM-KUSUM), Solar Rooftop Phase II, 12000 MW CPSU Scheme Phase II,
- Laying of new transmission lines and creating new sub-station capacity under the Green Energy Corridor Scheme for evacuation of renewable power,
- Notification of standards for deployment of solar photovoltaic systems/devices,
- Standard Bidding Guidelines for tariff-based competitive bidding process for procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV and Wind Projects.
- The government has issued orders that power shall be dispatched against a 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 The Electricity (Late Payment Surcharge and related matters) Rules (LPS rules).
- Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) to facilitate the sale of Renewable Energy Power through exchanges.
- The National Green Hydrogen Mission was launched to make India a global hub for the production, utilization and export of Green Hydrogen and its derivatives.
- Notification of prescribed trajectory for RE power bids of 50 GW/ annum to be issued by Renewable Energy Implementation Agencies from FY 2023-24 to FY 2027-28.
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy stated it is implementing various schemes and programmes for the development and deployment of renewable energy, under which funds are released per respective scheme guidelines. During the years 2022-23 and 2023-24 (Up to 31.10.2023), details of funds allocated and utilized by the Ministry are as given below:
(Rs. In Crores)
| Year | Allocated | Utilized |
| 2022-23 | 7033.00 | 5745.86 |
| 2023-24 (As on 31.10.2023) | 7848.00 | 3967.33 |
The state-wise details of funds released under major Programmes/ Projects by the Ministry are given below.
State-wise funds released under Major Programmes of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (Rs. in Crores)
| State | Year 2022-23 | Year 2023-24 | ||||||||||||||
| Major Programme/ Projects | Major Programme/ Projects | |||||||||||||||
| Solar Parks | Rooftop | PM-KUSUM | Solar Off-grid | GEC | SHP | Biomass | Biogas | Solar Parks | Rooftop | PM-KUSUM | Solar Off-grid | GEC | SHP | Biomass | Biogas | |
| Andhra Pradesh | 5.64 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 50.40 | 0.00 | 2.02 | 0.00 | 47.54 | 2.72 | |||||||
| Arunachal Pradesh | 0.82 | 8.49 | 183.04 | 0.00 | 0.61 | 0.00 | 0.10 | |||||||||
| Assam | 4.93 | 10.86 | 0.11 | 0.00 | 1.26 | |||||||||||
| Bihar | 0.00 | 0.00 | 7.15 | 0.00 | ||||||||||||
| Chhattisgarh | 3.29 | 1.12 | 3.70 | 1.24 | 6.23 | 0.95 | ||||||||||
| Goa | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Gujarat | 522.17 | 1040.24 | 7.83 | 0.00 | 27.97 | 318.75 | 1.37 | 355.454 | 406.64 | 5.35 | 0.00 | 23.85 | 157.50 | 0.00 | 8.14 | |
| Haryana | 14.67 | 137.95 | 0.00 | 3.50 | 13.51 | 169.96 | 0.00 | 70.21 | 0.00 | |||||||
| Himachal Pradesh | 11.70 | 5.85 | 0.00 | 4.03 | 41.25 | 2.44 | 0.00 | 40.50 | 60.00 | |||||||
| Jammu & Kashmir | 1.25 | 15.69 | 11.04 | 150.00 | 0.00 | |||||||||||
| Jharkhand | 3.01 | 20.04 | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||||||||||||
| Karnataka | 9.87 | 0.00 | 17.50 | 0.12 | 3.92 | 2.38 | 0.00 | 69.35 | 0.23 | |||||||
| Kerala | 2.52 | 102.46 | 0.00 | 163.00 | 78.53 | 23.84 | 0.74 | 45.00 | ||||||||
| Ladakh | 0.00 | 879.89 | 0.00 | 656.54 | ||||||||||||
| Madhya Pradesh | 109.355 | 34.99 | 0.00 | 96.77 | 0.00 | 0.29 | 50.096 | 3.82 | 0.00 | 22.26 | 0.83 | 6.65 | ||||
| Maharashtra | 12 | 55.70 | 247.60 | 0.00 | 5.08 | 1.75 | 3.04 | 3.62 | 147.56 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.56 | 0.28 | ||
| Manipur | 0.23 | 5.86 | 0.00 | |||||||||||||
| Meghalaya | 0.00 | 0.31 | 1.20 | 46.66 | ||||||||||||
| Mizoram | 1.28 | 0.81 | 6.37 | 0.00 | ||||||||||||
| Nagaland | 0.20 | 0.67 | 0.00 | 9.00 | ||||||||||||
| Odisha | 0.58 | 8.57 | 0.40 | 0.47 | 2.35 | 7.69 | 0.00 | 0.28 | ||||||||
| Punjab | 45.80 | 31.11 | 0.00 | 1.70 | 2.11 | 3.01 | 5.41 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.11 | ||||||
| Rajasthan | 96.35 | 247.63 | 0.00 | 10.85 | 0.00 | 0.10 | 73.146 | 36.20 | 12.40 | 0.00 | 53.74 | 1.97 | 0.35 | |||
| Sikkim | 0.77 | 60.00 | 0.00 | |||||||||||||
| Tamil Nadu | 20.46 | 0.00 | 87.81 | 1.03 | 0.34 | 3.63 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 2.33 | 0.28 | ||||||
| Telangana | 43.89 | 0.00 | 0.30 | 11.73 | 1.03 | 0.00 | ||||||||||
| Tripura | 0.12 | 2.60 | 0.00 | |||||||||||||
| Uttar Pradesh | 28.78 | 2.39 | 82.30 | 0.00 | 1.80 | 1.95 | 7.07 | 35.62 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.26 | |||||
| Uttarakhand | 1.69 | 4.00 | 0.00 | 7.67 | 0.53 | |||||||||||
| West Bengal | 10.17 | 0.00 | 0.10 | 0.00 | 2.10 | |||||||||||
| Andaman & Nicobar | 0.00 | 1.75 | ||||||||||||||
| Chandigarh | 2.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||||||||||||
| Dadar & Nagar Haveli/ Daman & Diu | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Delhi | 10.79 | 0.00 | 2.91 | 0.00 | 0.23 | |||||||||||
| Lakshadweep | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Pondicherry | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Others | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 676.10 | 1522.66 | 801.36 | 56.35 | 250.00 | 1795.93 | 62.35 | 10.28 | 480.64 | 586.16 | 411.12 | 22.25 | 257.23 | 1044.91 | 10.51 | 21.65 |
At present, most of the utility-scale renewable energy projects in the country are being set up by private sector developers, selected through a transparent bidding process, Singh said.
– global bihari bureau
