Renewable Energy

There has been a visible impact of renewable energy in the Indian energy scenario during the last five years. Renewable energy sector landscape in India has, during the last few years, witnessed tremendous changes in the policy framework with accelerated and ambitious plans to increase the contribution of solar energy. There is a perception that renewable energy can now play a significant role, as also, there is a confidence in the technologies and capacity to do so. Enlarging the scope of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission symbolizes both, and indeed encapsulates the vision and ambition for the future.

Renewable Energy Potential

India has an estimated renewable energy potential of about 900 GW from commercially exploitable sources viz.

Wind – 102 GW
Small Hydro – 20 GW
Bio-energy – 25 GW
750 GW solar power

Sl. No.	States/UTs	Wind Power	Small Hydro Power	Bio-Energy			Solar	Total
State wise renewable energy potential (in MW)
Sl. No.	States/UTs			Biomass Power	Bagasse Cogeneration	Waste to Energy
1	Andhra Pradesh	14497	978	578	300	123	38440	54916
2	Arunachal Pradesh	236	1341	8			8650	10236
3	Assam	112	239	212		8	13760	14330
4	Bihar	144	223	619	300	73	11200	12559
5	Chhattisgarh	314	1107	236		24	18270	19951
6	Goa		7	26			880	912
7	Gujarat	35071	202	1221	350	112	35770	72726
8	Haryana	93	110	1333	350	24	4560	6470
9	Himachal Pradesh	64	2398	142		2	33840	36446
10	Jammu & Kashmir	5685	1431	43			111050	118208
11	Jharkhand	91	209	90		10	18180	18580
12	Karnataka	13593	4141	1131	450		24700	44015
13	Kerala	837	704	1044		36	6110	8732
14	Madhya Pradesh	2931	820	1364		78	61660	66853
15	Maharashtra	5961	794	1887	1250	287	64320	74500
16	Manipur	56	109	13		2	10630	10811
17	Meghalaya	82	230	11		2	5860	6185
18	Mizoram		169	1		2	9090	9261
19	Nagaland	16	197	10			7290	7513
20	Orissa	1384	295	246		22	25780	27728
21	Punjab		441	3172	300	45	2810	6768
22	Rajasthan	5050	57	1039		62	142310	148518
23	Sikkim	98	267	2			4940	5307
24	Tamil Nadu	14152	660	1070	450	151	17670	34152
25	Telangana						20410	20410
26	Tripura		47	3		2	2080	2131
27	Uttar Pradesh	1260	461	1617	1250	176	22830	27593
28	Uttarakhand	534	1708	24		5	16800	19071
29	West Bengal	22	396	396		148	6260	7222
30	Andaman & Nicobar	365	8				0	373
31	Chandigarh					6	0	6
32	Dadra & Nagar Haveli						0	0
33	Daman & Diu	4					0	4
34	Delhi					131	2050	2181
35	Lakshadweep						0	0
36	Puducherry	120				3	0	123
37	Others					1022	790	1812
	Total	102772	19749	17536	5000	2554	748990	896602

Renewable Energy Targets

Immediately after the Prime Minister’s inaugural address to the 1st Renewable Energy Global Investor Meet & Expo (RE-INVEST 2015) on 15th February, 2015 articulating the future of renewable as “moving from megawatt to gigawatt”, the Government quickly worked towards laying down actionable plans for the Renewable Energy sector to make a quantum jump. Many investors and stakeholders have committed their investments in the sector by taking up projects in different parts of the country. The Government has laid a strong foundation for the penetration of renewable energy in India in the coming years.

The Government has up-scaled the target of renewable energy capacity to 175 GW by the year 2022 which includes:

100 GW from solar
60 GW from wind
10 GW from bio-power and
5 GW from small hydro-power

The capacity target of 100 GW set under the National Solar Mission (JNNSM) will principally comprise of 40 GW Rooftop and 60 GW through Large and Medium Scale Grid Connected Solar Power Projects. With this ambitious target, India will become one of the largest Green Energy producers in the world, surpassing several developed countries. The target, which looked overambitious, now seems within the realms of reality with several States already witnessing silent revolution on rooftop solar power generation with the launch of net metering in the country.