India is a front runner in the global quest for energy transition, being the third-largest producer of renewable energy in the world. The country has made several strides in its energy transition journey over the past decade. It has done so by creating a conducive policy and regulatory set-up for encouraging the uptake of non-fossil-fuel-based energy sources not only in the power sector, but also across various industries as well as at the individual consumer level. The country has laid massive emphasis on the need for a clean energy transition and is working on boosting domestic manufacturing to become self-reliant. Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) has been actively working on projects to expand the solar industry in the country through large auctions. It has also seen some of the lowest-ever tariffs in auctions held over the past two years. At a recent event, India Energy Week, held under the patronage of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas in Bengaluru, Suman Sharma, managing director, SECI, discussed the role of SECI in India’s energy transition, the country’s progress in green energy and the way forward. Edited excerpts…
SECI is a front-row witness to everything that is happening in the renewable energy sector in India. The unique selling point of SECI is definitely its bankable power purchase agreements, which are backed by sovereign guarantees. I would like to elaborate on another significant aspect, which is the transparent auction mechanism established by SECI. This mechanism has provided a huge boost to industrial confidence, especially for potential investors based outside India. In a way, I can say that this decade-long journey of SECI has facilitated too many significant movements in the Indian industry. The historic tariff, or the overall response to our auctions, is a thing of the past, but also shows the way forward. As we all know, we have a massive target to meet, and SECI is a member of the core planning team, which includes all ministries and departments, working together to meet the nationally determined targets. In this regard, I can proudly say that every sixth solar plant in India is under a SECI tender, and I do hope that in the coming three to four years this number will rise to cover a third of India’s installed renewable energy capacity.
Having said that, up to this point, we have primarily dealt with discoms and local power generation companies for state renewable energy deployment, but we are now looking to diversify into new sectors, primarily the commercial and industrial (C&I) sector. Currently, SECI is planning to enter the C&I sector because that is where the maximum growth potential lies as far as the renewable energy sector is concerned, going forward. Green hydrogen is another area we are working in, and certain projects are already under way. Moreover, we hope to come out with a green hydrogen tender in the coming months. Additionally, we have launched a production-linked incentive scheme. We also brought the world’s largest energy storage tender of 1,000 MWh to the market. SECI has been a pioneer as far as innovation goals in the renewable energy sector are concerned, and we hope to continue the journey.
India is one of the countries that has witnessed rapid growth in the renewable energy segment over the past few years. A major contributing factor to this exponential growth is the synergy present between the government, private stakeholders and citizens. Without this synergy, this kind of robust growth is not possible. In India, we believe in collaborative efforts taken with the help of stable government policies. However, in these policies, along with stability, there is a sense of flexibility as well. The number of reforms that have been witnessed in the Indian power sector over the past few years is probably unmatched by any other sector in India. Power and renewable energy sector-related guidelines, schemes, rules and regulations are always released after in-depth discussions with the concerned stakeholders.
Before every new bid, product or even a guideline, stakeholder consultations are taken up multiple times to ensure that the end result is good enough. We receive multiple queries from bidders, and all queries and inputs that are needed to make a product commercially viable are duly addressed to make sure that the policies address the challenges faced on ground. We play the crucial role of acting as a link between the government and the stakeholders.
Industries, however, only form one part of the story. The citizens of the country also need to be integrated into our renewable energy transition. Citizens also need to be a part of the design and development of the policy framework. As mentioned by our prime minister, the issues of climate change must be tackled at the grassroots level. In line with this, India hosted a pavilion with the theme of “LiFE – Lifestyle for Environment” at COP27. It emphasised the concept of a life cycle for the environment. It is very necessary for the younger generation to understand how to make sustainable life choices, and foster sustainable development and environmentally responsible behaviour. To this end, numerous schemes have been implemented by the Indian government such as the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan for agriculture, rooftop solar schemes and rooftop portals.
Going forward, discoms will undoubtedly play a critical role in ensuring the success of power sector reforms, whether conventional or renewable. The discom-consumer relationship is also very critical. Consumers should now be able to supply to the grid and not just procure from it. The time has come for this relationship to evolve. In addition, it is important to align central- and state-level policies so that the desired results are obtained. Climate financing is another key area to be emphasised, as financing renewable energy projects is the need of the hour. India is working in the right direction, which requires a collaborative effort wherein all the concerned stakeholders play a role in creating an efficient energy framework in the country.
