Karnataka state, India, to build world's largest solar farm.

 (Source: One Step off the Grid)

The Indian state of Karnataka now produces more renewable energy than European countries like Netherlands and Denmark. The Netherlands and Denmark produce around 7.7 GW of renewable energy whereas Karnataka has an installed capacity of 12.3 GW. Growth in renewables is to continue with Karnataka to build what will become the world’s largest solar farm of 2 GW.

Growth in Indian solar capacity outpaces coal in financial year 2017-18 (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018)

The addition of new solar capacity outpaced the commissioning of new coal plants in India for the first time. While coal plants still account for 57 per cent of India’s power generation capacity, the commissioning of 5000 MW of new coal plants in FY2017-18 (April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018) was about half the capacity addition of solar.

Coal plant additions declined by 28 per cent in the 2017-18 financial year compared to the year before. Non-hydro renewables now accounts for over 19 per cent of India’s installed capacity, with solar capacity growing by 89 per cent between March 2017 and March 2018.

Further information: Solar Energy Was the Only Power Source in India to Grow Year-Over-Year in FY 2017-18. Mercom India, April 24, 2018.

India builds large-scale solar plants over canals

Canal Solar Power Pilot Project in Kadi (photo Wikipedia)

As India moves to ramp up investment in solar power, it is exploring innovative places to install solar plants, including across the top of canals. This is to save on both land and water resources.

Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat, inaugurated a 1 Megawatt (MW) pilot project on 24 April 2012. The project is situated on the Narmada branch canal near Chandrasan village of Kadi taluka in Mehsana district, Gujarat.

Then in 2014, the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon inaugurated a new 10 MW "canal-top" solar energy plant in Vadodara district in India's western state of Gujarat. Completed in under six months, the plant's $18.3 million cost - including 25 years of operation and maintenance - is recoverable in 13 years, according to Umesh Chandra Jain, chief engineer with Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL), the Gujarat government agency that administers this facility and another smaller one.

According to SSNNL, the 10 MW plant has saved on 16 hectares of land, and will potentially prevent 90 million litres of water from evaporating each year.

However, one problem is the cost. The 1 MW canal-top plant cost $2.8 million, according to SSNNL, whereas a 1 MW land-based solar plant costs $2.3 million [2015 prices]. Another problem is that PV panels are usually mounted facing southwards for optimal performance, but a canal might curve and change direction. Using only north-south stretches of water could limit the scale of canal-top plants. Also long-term exposure to environmental stresses and ingress of water into the panels could reduce their performance. Further concerns center on the potential environmental impacts of canal-top plants on their surroundings, as the risks remain unclear.

For further reading see:

India builds solar plants atop canals to save land, water. Reuters, Jan 16 2015.

Solar panels over canals may help India combat climate change. The Quint, Jan 29, 2017.

India taps renewable energy to ensure all homes have power in 2018

Source: India Energy Storage Alliance

“The Indian government has pledged to broaden the roll-out of solar and battery storage to households without power in rural and remote towns and villages, as a part of a newly launched $2.5 billion project to electrify all of the country’s households by the end of 2018.”

One quarter of all homes in the country are yet to be electrified, that is 300 million people are not yet on the grid. Many homes will be eligible for free electricity connections but 80% of the funds will go towards electrifying rural homes. Here solar power packs of 200-300W will be added with battery banks to un-electrified homes, along with LED lights, a DC fan and a DC power plug, and repair and maintenance for five years.

India originally had a goal to have 40% renewable energy by 2030 but now believes it can surpass this goal by 2027. It has currently cancelled the development of new coal-fired power plants as it is less expensive for them to install rooftop solar and solar farms. From the article entitled “India joins the renewable energy revolution, accelerates targets”.

To read the full article from RenewEconomy see India taps solar, storage to ensure all homes have power in 2018. By Sophie Vorrath, 27 Sept, 2017.