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New Delhi: The current financial year 2023-24 will mark a break from the past trend and will be the first time when India will bid out 50 GW of RE projects, said the Secretary for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Bhupinder Singh Bhalla on Monday. Addressing a side event of the second Energy Transition Working Group meeting of India’s G20 Presidency, Bhalla said that in order to reach the target of putting in place 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based capacity by 2030, India will be bidding out 50 GW of renewable energy (RE) projects every year, starting from 2023-24.
“So far, we have never bid out more than 15 GW of renewable energy projects in a year. However, starting from 2023-24, this will be the first time that the government will bid out 50 GW of renewable energy projects every year. And our target is to reach the 500 GW target before 2030, if possible,” said Bhalla during a panel discussion on ‘Diversifying Renewables & Critical Minerals Supply Chains to Advance Energy Transition.’
Commenting on India’s plans for putting in place a sustainable supply chain for the RE industry, Bhalla said that the government has so far bid out 48 GW of solar PV manufacturing capacities under its Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. “By April of 2026, we will have 48 GW of annual solar PV production capacity. Soon, with 100 GW of solar manufacturing capacities, we won’t just make solar gear for India but also for the world,” said the MNRE Secretary.
Asserting that the window of action to ensure a healthy and prosperous future for our people is narrowing with each passing day, Bhalla stressed on the need for countries to expedite their climate actions. However, he added that as the world navigates energy transition, extreme reliance on a few technology or component suppliers will put the energy transition goals at risk. “It has been realised that deep reliance on a few technology suppliers and component manufacturers lead to energy security and affordability concerns and puts the energy transition goals at risk,” said Bhalla.
“The enormous social and environmental benefits that renewables offer, free and locally available fuel available in the form of sun and wind reduce reliance on fossil fuel imports, provide sustainable livelihood opportunities, cleaner air and reduced water use will not be possible without significant collective efforts for diversification and resilience of supply chains,” he added.
On being asked about the low share of renewable energy in India’s total power generation currently, the MNRE Secretary said that Capacity Utilisation Factor (CUF) is a problem for renewable energy projects due to the intermittent nature of renewable energy. “For the share of power generation from renewable sources to increase in India’s energy mix, India will need battery storage,” said Bhalla.
Addressing the event, Power Secretary Alok Kumar also stressed on the need to develop large-scale battery storage for greater integration of renewable energy in India’s energy mix. “There is a general consensus in the Energy Transition Working Group that renewables will have a very crucial role in achieving net zero and energy transition. The projections for the power sector in 2047 include 1,200 GW of renewable energy capacity, 340 GW of storage, 120 GW of hydro and 50 GW of nuclear. Even if we consider 80-90 GW of pumped hydro storage projects, India would still require around 250 GW of battery storage. But for that we require various kinds of materials for manufacturing and huge facilities for manufacturing. If we don’t succeed in promoting local manufacturing, India’s energy transition will be very, very difficult,” said Kumar.
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