Page 16 - AsiaElec Week 45 2022

AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec

Indian solar hurting

without local suppliers

INDIA IN India, the head of a leading renewables firm is going to be challenging from the point of view
has said that the nation’s solar power industry of building capacities while the supply chain is
desperately needs improvements across the disrupted” he said, adding: “The only way for-
board in terms of local manufacturing and sup- ward is to have remunerative tariff. Otherwise at
ply chains. the current tariff level it is not viable to produce
Without increased domestic infrastructure to solar power.”
help produce the base materials and technology At present, JSW is overseeing the construc-
used in the installation of large-scale solar pro- tion of 3.2 GW of solar capacity, and has set itself
jects, the nation’s current tariff of just INR2.5 per goals of having 10 GW of operational PV pro-
unit is becoming increasingly untenable to many jects in place by 2025, and then doubling that
in the industry, says Prashant Jain, the joint man- figure to 20 GW by the end of the decade.
aging director and CEO of JSW Energy. Of his own firm’s efforts to help alleviate the
Since late 2021, India has been largely held shortfall in PV material supplies needed across
hostage by higher priced foreign PV imports, the country, Jain highlighted a recent purchase in
something Jain referred to, albeit indirectly, the form of a 700-MW thermal plant in the state
when asked if solar panel prices had stabilised of Orissa, in eastern India.
since the start of the year. According to reports, JSW intends to use the
“Solar panel prices are still hovering around plant to produce polysilicon in addition to ingots
30-32 cents per watt peak, and taking into and wafers crucial to solar panel production.
account factors like (Indian) rupee depreciation, He did admit though that even this “(will)
the tariff of 2.5 rupees per unit becomes unvia- take around three years and till then there will be
ble,” he said. some uncertainty, which can only be mitigated
He was much clearer, however, in saying that with higher tariffs.”
it is in part the result of excessive costs in the Sources in New Delhi, however, indicate that
solar power sector across India at present, which there is currently no sign of authorities moving
means JSW has not made any bids for grid sup- to intervene on the painfully low tariffs being
ply or solar capacity in the past year. paid out.
Instead, he went on the focus on Indian gov- Added to the woes being suffered by solar
ernment plans over the long term to remedy the developers, increased attention in the Indian
situation being less than ideal: “The solution energy sector is now falling on tariffs awarded
is to build a local supply chain, and (with it to to offshore wind farms. Currently set at between
increase) domestic manufacturing capacity to INR5 and INR6 per unit produced, these tariffs
bring down panel prices. That is why the govern- are at least twice being received by solar facilities.
ment has launched the new production linked And with offshore wind an area of renewable
incentive (PLI) scheme worth $2.93bn, but its energy relatively unknown in India compared to
impact would only be viable in a three- to five- solar, PV developers across the sub-continent are
year time frame.” now looking on helplessly as the nation’s 7,500-
Not content with waiting so long, Jain pointed km coastline garners more and more attention
out JSW’s own moves to the same end with a as the next big thing in Indian renewables infra-
veiled criticism of New Delhi for taking so long structure. ™
to help Indian solar developers: “(T)his period

P16 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 45 08•November•2022