UP looking at Rs 40,000-cr investment in renewable energy

The state signed up MoU and PPA with several private and public sector companies for setting up renewable energy plants, especially in solar energy space

Uttar Pradesh, which is ramping up its renewable energy capacity, is likely to get an investment of almost Rs 40,000 crore in the next couple of years.

The state has already signed up Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with several private and public sector companies for setting up renewable energy plants, especially in the solar energy space.

The state government has so far identified nearly 1,200 hectares of land, mostly barren and non-agricultural land in the arid Bundelkhand region for the purpose.

Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) here today released a paper titled 'Roadmap for tapping renewable energy potential in UP.

 

"UP is slated to deploy 10,697 megawatt (mw) of solar power, 3,500 mw of biomass cogeneration and 25 mw of small hydro power project totalling 14,194 mw of renewable capacity by 2022," ASSOCHAM secretary general D S Rawat said adding such projects would bring in huge investment in the state in the coming years.

He said the private investment partners in the renewable energy space would flow from Azue Power, ACME Group, Essel Group, NTPC, Moser Baer, Reflex Energy, DK Infracon, Jackson Power etc.

In immediate future, UP is looking at 500 mw of solar energy power by 2017.

The Chamber has suggested UP renewable energy policy to focus on bottlenecks like mandatory net metering, feed-in tariff for rooftop solar photovoltaic, grid integration and evacuation, restructured and enforceable renewable purchase obligation (RPO). This would ensure compliance and developing solution for better forecasting of renewable energy generation.

It has recommended for providing support mechanism for compliance and timely implementation of the policy.

Besides, ASSOCHAM has said UP renewable energy policy should address land acquisition issue. "Pre-identified government land at District Level Committee (DLC) rate for usage by industry for solar power projects will boost deployment of solar power capacity as it would minimise delays on account of land acquisition process," he added.

It has also suggested UP to implement a dedicated 'cooking energy mission' to accelerate use of modern sources of energy including sustainable and clear cooking system backed by fuel supply chain.