Biggest challenges the RE industry is facing is on policy uncertainty & constant changes in polices.

- Tejus A.V.

Chief, Wind and Solar Farms, CleanMax

The targets set by the government are quite ambitious. Do you feel these are realistic? Can you throw some light on the current scenario in terms of installed and operational capacities?

I think, recently the government did announce that it plans to increase non-fossil capacity to 450 GW and 50% of energy requirements to be met from renewable energy resources by 2030. So according to MNRE with installed renewable energy capacity including hydro has crossed 150 GW and about 63GW is under construction then it could mean installing another 290 GW of capacity addition split across wind, solar PV and hydro in 9 years. So to achieve this we will have to double our current installation rate to around 26 GW per year to meet this deadline, which is a very ambitious target.

As effects of climate change have started impacting lives and livelihoods across the world including India, having this ambitious target is the need of the hour. As storage technologies start becoming commercially viable this target will be more attractive.

The GatiShakti programme seeks to enhance the renewable energy capacities. Besides, the focus on e-mobility is expected to drive the demand for renewable energy. How do you assess the opportunities in the wake of the GatiShakti programme? Can you share your views on how far we have managed to achieve success in the hybrid model? 

GatiShakti program is envisioned to integrate various department to leverage technology for faster project clearance and reduce reworks. This program can unleash the potential of single window clearance of renewable energy applications across states, departments, and sectors. If implemented with progressive policies, it has a huge potential to unlock and integrate renewable energy projects across highways, food & agriculture storage facilities, industrial clusters, transportation, and many others.

Hybrid power was a niche concept in 2012-14 but today India is amongst the very few countries that have demonstrate to the world it is possible to integrate wind and solar hybrid projects seamlessly into its grid. In future with battery storage combining with Hybrid energy projects, it will make this more interesting proposition. 

What are the challenges faced by sector players like you and what measures need to be taken to ease out these issues? Tell us about the fund raising/financial closure challenges faced by the sector players?

Biggest challenges the industry is facing is on policy uncertainty & the constant changes in the polices. Since various states such as Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Chhattisgarh are all forming new open access policies, but these open access policies will need to be designed for at least five years, that will give developers certainty to plan ahead.

The policy uncertainty around energy banking & ISTS across India needs to end and the policy around it needs to be eased keeping the changing dynamics in mind to encourage private sector to significantly increase renewables in their overall energy mix.

Also, for developer's the recent change in GST is difficult to absorb within their under-construction project cost and it will eventually be passed through as increase in tariffs. Additionally, the commodity prices are hitting the roof which has increase project costs by 35-40 per cent within six months.

All these issues are creating a lot of pushbacks from customers, investors, lenders which will eventually result in delayed financial closures and project over run.

Also, what is your take on technological advances, and the need to reduce costs? Tell us about your growth plans by 2025.

We believe that technology advances across renewables (wind/ solar) is happening and cost per unit has been reducing since many years. Today India has become one of the lowest-cost producer of solar power.

Now, we need to focus on making renewable energy more reliable by giving a boost to storage which will help us to use renewable energy 24/7. This is where technology and policies should support in making renewables more accessible across the country for everyone.  Since I believe that going forward renewable energy sector will grow faster as storage solutions start becoming economically viable.

CleanMax will continue to focus on the commercial & industrial segment in India as well as expanding in Middle East & South East Asia and we are planning to enhance our operating capacity from current level of around 750+ GW to around 2 GW in the next three years.

CleanMax has really taken a lot of efforts to bring in Hybrid wind solar offerings to its C&I customers and has demonstrated higher renewable energy generation, some of our clients have even achieved their RE100 goals.

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