Rajasthan leads India’s solar power ambitions

At the December 2015 Paris Climate negotiations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India’s commitment to 100 Gigawatts of solar energy connected to the grid by 2022. Commentators have questioned this ambitious target given the fact that India’s current solar capacity is approximately 5 GW and India’s commitment is equal to half of the total global production of solar energy. However, a study conducted at Stanford University indicated that this target is indeed achievable with a strong domestic policy push and international investment.

There has been a substantial policy push both at the central and state levels and investment appetite in the sector has increased: non-binding investment commitments of 171 GW from some 50 developers have been made, though how many of these will actually materialise is uncertain. In India, both the union and the state governments can make and formulate policy in the energy sector and therefore policy changes at the state level are crucial in achieving these ambitious solar targets.

Rajasthan has emerged as the leader in solar energy among the states. According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Renewable Energy, Rajasthan topped in the country with a total installed solar capacity of 1264 MW out of the total 5129 MW of installed solar power capacity in all states as of January 2016. And Rajasthan is likely to remain the national leader in solar energy in the coming years. This change has come about owing to a number of factors including Rajasthan’s 300-330 days of sun and highest solar radiation of 6.0-7.0 kWh/ m2 in the country. Moreover, availability of large tracts of flat and underdeveloped barren land, a favourable policy environment, positive market dynamics and a national push to solar energy have made Rajasthan the leading solar energy producing state in India. Read More…