Skip to main content

Gujarat's solar slowdown: Top state adviser blames inertia on "problem of plenty"

By Our Representative
A senior adviser working with a state-run institute has sharply criticized Gujarat government's official inertia in putting up more solar plants after 800 MW were commissioned for three years starting with 2009. Pointing out that subsequently to this "not much has happened", the senior expert regrets, "There have been no further allocations, and the state solar policy expired in 2014. No new policy has yet been officially announced."
Akhilesh Magal, head adviser, solar energy, Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute (GERMI), promoted state-controlled Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), says one reason why the solar power producers are refusing to come in is, "Gujarat does not allow third-party open-access" where an independent power producer "connects to a buyer" directly. "The state electric utility companies are wary of granting open-access permissions, as this would thwart businesses", he regrets.
An environmental engineer from Carnegie Mellon University and an expert on solar policies and grid integration of renewable energy, Magal, in his commentary in a top international renewable energy portal says, "It would be wrong to say that there isn’t enough land. The solar resource, of course, continues to be good"", he says, wondering, while most developers and investors have had a good experience in Gujarat, "why is the state holding back on further allocations?"
Magal
The commentary, titled "Gujarat & The Problem Of Plenty", suggests, the reversal in solar field has happened despite the fact that "Gujarat was the first state in India to announce its solar policy in 2009" and its "policy preceded the National Solar Mission (NSM) and was the first (and since then the only) policy to be based on a fixed feed-in tariff (FiT)." 
A major reason why solar power is no more being encouraged in Gujarat, suspects Magal, is "Gujarat is one of the few states in India that have a power surplus" and Gujarat’s state-owned "distribution companies (DISCOMs) literally do not need any more power, and therefore have no reason to purchase solar power."
As against this, Magal says, "In most other states with power deficits, solar power is an easy way to quickly meet the deficit. Thermal power plants take time to get commissioned, and coal linkages are a constraint in India today. In Gujarat, solar can only replace conventional generation, and not augment it. Sending power to other states is allowed, but severely limited due to transmission capacity bottlenecks."
Then, Magal says, "Although the price of solar has fallen by more than 60% since Gujarat signed its first power purchase agreements (PPAs), solar is still about 30% more expensive than long-term thermal power contracts from new coal plants." Against this backdrop, "DISCOMs are not allowed to freely pass on these costs to consumers unless they get the proposed tariff approved by the regulator, State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC)."
Explaining the constraint, the expert says, "This would leave the onus on the government to bridge the difference. Solar PPAs are long-term agreements (at least 25 years), which would mean that the government has a sizable outflow on its cash-flow sheet for a long time. Governments generally are wary of making such long-term commitments."

Comments

Ms. Sowbhagya Rao, Senior Project Fellow, Outreach Manager (Social Media and Content), Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute said…
I am writing to you with reference to the article published on the following site - http://www.counterview.net/2015/04/gujarats-solar-slowdown-top-state.html

​I would like to bring to your notice​ ​that the views expressed in the article published in Counterview has even remotely no proximate nexus to the views expressed by Mr. Akhilesh Magal.

​Firstly, The author’s views and tone are not critical in nature. They simply present unbiased facts (“Gujarat has not announced a policy yet”, “DISCOMs are wary of procuring solar power” etc.).

Secondly, The author has also offered solutions (second part of the article) which the blog Counterview has not even discussed. This is incorrect information. If you want to quote the author, it is fine, but quoting only one part of the article is a misrepresentation of the author’s views and facts of this case. Both sides of the argument need to be presented duly. ​

I would request you to eschew from publishing inaccurate information (that is duly required of you from the Norms of Journalistic Conduct).

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.