Source: cleanenergynews.ihsmarkit.com
India intends to quintuple the size of a subsidy scheme for domestic solar photovoltaic (PV) module makers, pushing forward with the country's Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India) strategy for decarbonizing its economy.
To help counter climate change, the world's third largest GHG emitter is aiming to have 500 GW of renewable energy capacity installed by 2030—including at least 280 GW of solar—before reaching emisiones netas-cero by 2070.
"This decarbonization strategy opens up huge employment opportunities and will take the country on a sustainable development path," Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the country's parliament in el discurso del presupuesto anual 1 February.
En el presupuesto de abril de 2022 a marzo de 2023, Nueva Delhi asignaría 19 500 millones de rupias adicionales (2610 millones) al programa de incentivos vinculados a la producción (PLI) para promover la fabricación de módulos fotovoltaicos nacionales, dijo Sitharaman.
El PLI, que comenzó con Rs 4500 millones de rupias (600 millones) en el último presupuesto anual, ofrece subsidios a plantas de módulos seleccionadas en función de sus ventas, calidad del producto y contenido local.
IHS Markit estimates 80 percent -90 percent of India's solar components are imported, with China the main supplier. Government figures show India currently has annual production capacity of just 2.5 GW for PV cells and 9-10 GW for modules.
But the initial PLI budget will help drive the expansion of India-based manufacturers, according to the National Investment Promotion Facilitation Agency (NIPFA), and India's capacity of integrated module plants that can convert wafer-ingots to modules is expected to llegar a 10 GW by the end of March 2023.
The government agency expects India's annual module manufacturing capacity to expand by 30-35 GW between 2021 and 2025, in part driven by strong demand and policy incentives.
New Delhi is hoping to generate employment opportunities and attract foreign investment as a result of expanding the PV manufacturing sector, said Amit Manohar, especialista en inversiones de NIPFA.
"After a decade of innovation and cost reductions, the solar energy sector has evolved to a major source of energy, and it could potentially serve 30 percent or more of India's electricity demand by 2030," Manohar said.
Estrategia Atmanirbhar Bharat
Since 2020, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been promoting the Atmanirbhar Bharat strategy in several sectors—including renewables—to boost domestic manufacturing capacity in a post-COVID recovery.
En el presupuesto de abril de 2021 a marzo de 2022, Nueva Delhi inyectó Rs 1,000 crore (133 millones) en Solar Energy Corporation of India y Rs 1,500 crore (200 millones) en la Agencia de Desarrollo de Energía Renovable de India. Las entidades son responsables de ejecutar varios programas de incentivos patrocinados por el gobierno central-.
Desde abril de 2021, solo las empresas incluidas en una lista-india aprobada de fabricantes de módulos pueden participar en licitaciones de energía solar patrocinadas por el gobierno central.
Además, el gobierno planea imponer un arancel aduanero básico del 40 por ciento a los módulos solares importados y del 25 por ciento a las células a partir de abril.
Kashish Shah, an analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, suggested the policy initiatives' effects are likely to be compounded by problemas de la cadena de suministro in the global PV industry. "Module manufacturing in India has never been more viable," sha dijo last December.
Con las fuertes señales de política, algunas de las principales empresas indias han anunciado grandes programas de inversión en energías renovables que se centran especialmente en la energía solar.
Habiéndose fijado el objetivo de construir 100 GW de capacidad solar para 2030, Reliance Industries dijo el año pasado que lanzará una planta de paneles fotovoltaicos integrados en Jamnagar después de adquirir REC Group por 771 millones. Se espera que la planta tenga una capacidad inicial de 4 GW por año antes de aumentar eventualmente a 10 GW.
In January, Reliance, India's largest publicly traded company by market capitalization, announced iniciativas de inversión en renovables totaling Rs 595,500 crore (80 billion), and a substantial proportion of the money will be used to develop manufacturing facilities for PV modules, electrolyzers, batteries, fuel cells, as well as hydrogen and low-carbon energy projects in Gujarat over the next 10-15 years.
Rival conglomerate Grupo Adani plans to invest 50 billion to 70 billion in decarbonization projects in the next decade, including 20 billion in renewable energy generation. It aims to have a solar manufacturing capacity of 2 GW per annum by the end of March 2023.
While the government's policies are prompting more investment in domestic manufacturing, IHS Markit Renewable Analyst Ankita Chauhan warned of short-term disruptions to solar installations in the country.
"Current domestic manufacturing is not sufficient to meet the domestic demand, and it may take another three to five years to build it up," said Chauhan, adding that the policies favoring Indian manufacturers will push up overall costs, and restrict vendor choices for procurement and project timelines.
Muéstrame el dinero
En el último presupuesto anual, el gobierno indio también dijo que mejorará el reciclaje, promoverá la agrosilvicultura, adoptará una política de intercambio de baterías para vehículos eléctricos donde las redes de carga no sean viables y reemplazará del 5 al 7 por ciento del carbón utilizado en las centrales térmicas con pellets de biomasa, entre otras medidas de descarbonización.
Sitharaman said India will issue sovereign green bonds in the coming fiscal year to fund "green infrastructure" in the public sector, without elaborating.
Official data showed India had 150.5 GW of renewable capacity installed in November when large hydropower projects were taken into account. This means annual capacity additions of 40-50 GW will be required to meet the government's 500 GW target by 2030.
"On a very conservative capital funding calculation the investment required for achieving the target is approximately 210 billion," said Manohar, adding that both public and private stakeholders need to contribute.
En una nota publicada el mes pasado, los analistas de IHS Markit estimaron que India necesitará una inversión anual de más de 28 mil millones para alcanzar la meta de 2030, en comparación con el gasto promedio de 7 mil millones en los últimos cinco años.
"Project developers are tapping international capital markets to access low-cost financing, but the government needs to improve regulatory transparency, introduce a uniform green taxonomy, and provide targeted interventions to improve access to low-cost international capital," the note said.
Además de invertir dinero en capacidad de generación con bajas-carbonos, los investigadores del Laboratorio Nacional Lawrence Berkeley en EE. UU. dijeron que las partes interesadas indias deberán invertir 40 000 millones en 63 GW de almacenamiento en baterías para garantizar la estabilidad de la red.
Still, they believe renewable expansion will be the cheapest overall option in meeting India's rising electricity demand.
"Dramatic cost reductions over the last decade for wind, solar, and battery storage technologies position India to leapfrog to a more flexible, robust, and sustainable power system for delivering affordable and reliable power to serve demand that will nearly double by 2030," they said in un estudio published last December.