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NEW DELHI : Power minister’s recent move to set renewable power obligation (RPO) for wind energy is likely to result in an estimated 58 GW of wind power installations by 2030 going by the Central Electrical Authority’s (CEA) demand projections, said a statement from CII.
According to a recent order by the ministry, states will have to meet 0.81% of their energy demand from wind power in the year 2022-23. By 2020-30, the requirement would be 6.94%.
The notification said that the wind RPO will be met only by energy produced from wind power projects commissioned after March 31, 2022.
Tulsi Tanti, Chairman, CII Renewable Energy Council said: “The recent order of the ministry of power now has a separate class for wind RPO with a clear increase in the wind RPO trajectory. This increased trajectory ensures that at least a minimum quantum of wind energy is installed in the country."
The industry body said that the wind energy sector has been constrained with restricted installations over the last few years. Terming the move “welcome and visionary", Tanti added that the importance of wind energy and its contribution to achieving India’s overall RE targets will be a crucial deciding factor in realizing India’s energy transition roadmap.
Tanti, who is also the Chairman and Managing Director, Suzlon Group said, “If properly mandated and enforced, this RPO ensures the sustainable growth of the wind energy industry from 0.81% in 2023 to 6.94% by 2030. Even by rough estimates this will lead to an additional 58 GW of wind power installations by 2030 taking into account CEA demand projections.“
Apart from the wind energy RPO, the government is also working on several other initiatives for wind energy, like reviewing the e-reverse bidding, Inter-State Transmission System waivers, promoting renewable energy through green energy open access, pursuing the CPSU (Central Public Sector Undertaking) scheme and an offshore wind energy policy.
“As an industry, we wholeheartedly appreciate and welcome these initiatives. Not only will this help to boost the wind energy sector but will also allow better utilization of our domestic manufacturing capacities, in line of our ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ vision and go a long way in ensuring energy security, creating local sustainable jobs and huge saving of oil imports," said Tanti.
As per the new norms, states will have to meet 24.61% of their energy requirements from renewable energy and take it to 43.33% by end of this decade. Along with RPO for solar, wind and hydro, the new norms also include energy storage obligations.
