The government of India is aiming to double the level of green power in the country to 10 per cent of the power generation by 2015. “Presently, 5 per cent of the total generation in the country comes from green power. India reached 5 per cent level in 2010 and annually 1 per cent is going to add up to take it to 10 per cent level by 2015.
Promoting increased use of green power is for our own energy security,” Pramod Deo, chairperson, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission said.
He was addressing the 10th edition of two-day Green Power conference cum expo on Renewable Energy organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), here today.
“There is a general apprehension that green power is costly. The costs are going to be flattened in the next five years. Regarding tariffs, all state regulatory commissions should take CRC tariff as guiding tariff.
From the point of view of sellers, operational issues like connectivity should be addressed.”
Shamim Banu, additional chief secretary, energy department, government of Karnataka said 27 per cent of the installed capacity in Karnataka is renewable energy. “There are certain issues to be addressed to harness renewable energy.
For example, many sites suitable to wind mills are located in forest areas of Western Ghats and it takes a very long time for clearances. There is a need to streamline procedural issues,” she said.
S Chandrasekhar, Chairman, CII-Karnataka State Council said Karnataka will add another 6,000 Mw capacity in the next two years with the passing of new energy policy last year.
“Renewable energy should constitute 25 per cent of the total generation to make our energy sector sustainable. We need to establish a bridge between policy and market mechanism,” he said.
The conference called upon the industry to mark up some percentage of their total energy consumption to come from green power.
This will not only decrease the over dependence on fossil fuels for energy needs, but also reduces carbon emissions, speakers at the conference said.
