Lok Sabha Question No. 4086 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-12
Subject: Assessment of Solar Energy Potential
Ministry: NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY
Asked by: Behanan Benny, Manoj Kishorbhai Kotak

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4086

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.12.2019

## ASSESSMENT OF SOLAR ENERGY POTENTIAL

4086. SHRI BENNY BEHANAN SHRI MANOJ KOTAK

Will the Minister of NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has made any assessment of solar energy potential in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the growth of the solar energy sector, percentage-wise, during the last five years;
- (c) the estimated power in megawatt being produced and likely to be produced from the solar energy;
- (d) the electricity in megawatt generated from the solar energy during the said period;
- (e) the amount of subsidy disbursed by the Government for solar sector during the last two years; and
- (f) the obstacles faced by the said sector along with the steps taken/being taken by the Government to overcome it?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE (I/C) FOR NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY, POWER and MoS for  SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

(SHRI R.K. SINGH)

(a) and (b) : Yes, Sir. Government has made assessment of solar energy potential of around 750 GW in the country. The State-wise details are given in Annexure .  The  details  of  solar  power capacity installed during last five years and percentage increase is given below:-

| Year     |   Capacity added during year (MW) |   Cumulative capacity (MW) | % increase   |
|----------|-----------------------------------|----------------------------|--------------|
| 2014- 15 |                           1112.07 |                    3743.97 | 42.25%       |
| 2015- 16 |                           3018.88 |                    6762.85 | 80.63%       |
| 2016- 17 |                           5525.98 |                   12288.8  | 81.71%       |
| 2017- 18 |                           9362.67 |                   21651.5  | 76.19%       |
| 2018- 19 |                           6529.2  |                   28180.7  | 30.16%       |

- (c) As on 30.11.2019, solar power production capacity of 32527.52 MW has been installed in the country and a target of 1, 00, 000 MW has been fixed for upto 2022.
- (d) The details of electricity generation capacity in megawatt from solar energy during last five years is given in reply to part (a) and (b) above.
- (e) The Central Financial Assistance  released by the Ministry under various schemes of solar power programmes in the country during last two years are given below:-
- (f) The Government has observed obstacles like delays in payments by distribution companies in some States, delays in adoption of tariffs by concerned State Electricity Regulatory Commissions, reopening of contracts by State Government of Andhra Pradesh, etc.

| Year    |   Total Funds Released (Rs. Crore) |
|---------|------------------------------------|
| 2017-18 |                            1889.93 |
| 2018-19 |                            2524.65 |

In order to address the issues in Renewable Energy Sector and attract private investment, MNRE has taken the following steps:

- (1) The State DISCOMs have been requested to honour Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and 'Must  Run'  status  accorded  to  wind  and  solar  power  projects,  as  per  provisions  of  Indian Electricity Grid Code 2010.
- (2)  In  order  to  address  the  issues  of  delayed  payments  by  State  distribution  companies  to Renewable  Energy  generators,  the  Government  through  Ministry  of  Power's  Order  No. 23/22/2019-R&R dated 28.06.2019 has made it mandatory for the Distribution Licensees to open and maintain adequate Letters of Credit (LCs) as Payment Security Mechanism if provided for under Power Purchase Agreements with Distribution Licensees.
- (3)  Further,  in  order  to  strengthen  the  contractual  provisions  in  the  Contract  (Power  Purchase Agreements) between the solar power generators and the Procurers, and to facilitate setting up of Renewable  Energy  power  projects,  the  Government,  vide  notification  dated  22.10.2019  from Ministry  of  New  &  Renewable  Energy,  has  made  following  major  amendments  to  the 'Guidelines for Tariff Based Competitive Bidding Process for Procurement of Power from Grid Connected Solar PV Power Projects':
4. (i)  Solar  Power  Generators  have  been  allowed  to  submit  documents/Lease  Agreement  to establish possession/right to use 100% (hundred per cent) of the required land in the name of the Solar Power Generator for a period not less than the complete term of the PPA, on or before the Scheduled Commissioning Date (SCD).
5. (ii) Clear and elaborate provisions for time extension and compensation to affected party in the event  of  natural  and  non-Natural  Force  Majeure  events  with  specific  provisions  regarding termination due to natural and non-natural Force Majeure events have been included.
6. (iii)  Quantum  of  compensation  for  back-down  has  been  increased  from  50%  to  100%  with provision for recognition of only written instructions of back-down.

(iv)Corresponding  time  extension  in  date  for  achievement  of  financial  closure  and  scheduled commissioning  date,  in  case  there  is  a  delay  in  adoption  of  tariff  by  the  concerned  State Electricity  Regulatory  Commission  beyond  a  period  of  60  days  from  the  filing  of  such application.

*****

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a & b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4086 FOR 12.12.2019

## State-wise estimated Solar Energy Potential in the Country

| Sl. No.   | State             |   Solar Power Potential (GWp) |
|-----------|-------------------|-------------------------------|
| 1.        | Andhra Pradesh    |                         38.44 |
| 2.        | Arunachal Pradesh |                          8.65 |
| 3.        | Assam             |                         13.76 |
| 4.        | Bihar             |                         11.2  |
| 5.        | Chhattisgarh      |                         18.27 |
| 6.        | Delhi             |                          2.05 |
| 7.        | Goa               |                          0.88 |
| 8.        | Gujarat           |                         35.77 |
| 9.        | Haryana           |                          4.56 |
| 10.       | Himachal Pradesh  |                         33.84 |
| 11.       | Jammu & Kashmir   |                        111.05 |
| 12.       | Jharkhand         |                         18.18 |
| 13.       | Karnataka         |                         24.7  |
| 14.       | Kerala            |                          6.11 |
| 15.       | Madhya Pradesh    |                         61.66 |
| 16.       | Maharashtra       |                         64.32 |
| 17.       | Manipur           |                         10.63 |
| 18.       | Meghalaya         |                          5.86 |
| 19.       | Mizoram           |                          9.09 |
| 20.       | Nagaland          |                          7.29 |
| 21.       | Odisha            |                         25.78 |
| 22.       | Punjab            |                          2.81 |
| 23.       | Rajasthan         |                        142.31 |
| 24.       | Sikkim            |                          4.94 |
| 25.       | Tamil Nadu        |                         17.67 |
| 26.       | Telangana         |                         20.41 |
| 27.       | Tripura           |                          2.08 |
| 28.       | Uttar Pradesh     |                         22.83 |
| 29.       | Uttarakhand       |                         16.8  |
| 30.       | West Bengal       |                          6.26 |
| 31.       | UTs               |                          0.79 |
|           | Total             |                        748.98 |