‘Overall, things have been satisfactory’
UB Reddy, Managing Director, Enerfra Projects (India) Pvt Ltd, shares his thoughts on the journey of renewable energy sector in the last 10 years. Excerpts:
How has the industry’s performance been in the last 10 years?
The renewable energy industry’s performance in the last 10 years has been pretty good, though one might say that it could have still been better. True, solar installations have risen faster than wind, but that is also because solar projects are easier to build and require fewer approvals. Let us not forget that while wind can be put up only at certain sites, solar can come up anywhere. Last year (2023-24) was a good one for both solar and wind with solar installations of 15 GW and wind 3.2 GW. So, overall, things have been satisfactory. The government has been proactive.
Any unfinished agenda?
The next government would do well to focus on streamlining policies for ‘scheduling and forecasting’, which is very important to handle intermittent supply from renewable energy plants. Also, in this exercise, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) should be involved, for the sake of accuracy of forecasting.
As for solar, the government’s ‘Make in India’ policy has engendered many manufacturing units, which is very welcome. However, alongside the government should evolve a system for monitoring the quality of solar modules produced.
Also, I’d urge the government to take a re-look at the present policy of building large solar installations in single locations, because that might create grid-related issues.
UB Reddy, MD, Enerfra Projects (India)
How would you rate the government’s performance
It is dicult to ‘rate’ the government on this, because multiple factors come into play. Suce to say that globally, except perhaps in China, the renewable energy industry’s performance has been good but not great. India is no exception to this trend.