By the end of 2024-25, Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) is planning to come up with the tender of a 500 MW solar thermal capacity, as commented by R.P. Gupta, Chairman of SECI. If this SECI tender comes then this would be first of its scale. This tender will be for an advanced mechanism set up where heat will be used to generate steam and run the turbines to generate electricity.
Mr. Gupta also talked about the increasing requirement for energy and why it is important to find new ways to generate the same using renewable sources.
The chairperson of CERC, Mr. Jishnu Barua emphasized waiving the transmission level, which is used for charging and discharging. He also added about the new developments in the green energy sector and this can help in reducing the prices. For stabilizing the grids, energy storage has a huge role to play which enhances reliability and makes sure renewable energies are used optimally. As per Mr. Barua, the Indian electric sector is now focused on stabilizing access and availability of energy.
Power Generation Statistics
In the first half of CY2024, the solar power generation in India went down south and hit the six-year low figure. The increasing power demand pushed India to rely on coal to generate electricity to fill the gap.
From coal, 10.4% more electricity was produced during the first six months of 2024 which outgrew the overall power generation growth rate of 9.7% during the same period.
The electricity generated from solar power rose to 63.6 billion kWh in the CY2024 first half. However, there has been a rise compared to last year’s production by around 14.7% but still, there is a long way to go. This SECI’s upcoming 500 MW tender can help to fill the gap and increase solar power generation in the country. During the first half of 2024, the use of fossil fuels in power generation rose to 77.1%, which was 76.6% during the same period last year.
Challenges faced by the sector
Mr. Ghanashyam Prashad, who is the chairperson of Central Electric Authority, commented that in the past 14-15 months, there have been certain challenges faced by them, which include operations of the grid, as well as regulations-based challenges. More than 47 instances were faced which took a toll on the 1000 MW renewable energy target however; he said the things are being monitored and they are ensuring that such problems do not occur in the future. The peak hours during the day have been observed to be between 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. and thus to ensure the healthiness of the grids, the storage capacity has to be increased especially for the evening hours.
Prospects
SECI’s 500 MW solar thermal capacity along with other measures are expected to help India generate more of its electricity needs from renewable sources by the end of FY2025. The experts anticipate India’s overall electricity generation during FY25 to grow robustly and may be at the highest pace in the last decade. The power generation from coal is anticipated to increase at a rate of 8.9% while from renewable sources the electricity generated can grow at a rate of 8.2% in this fiscal as anticipated by the experts.
Wrapping up
India’s growing energy consumption has been putting pressure on the current power generation capacity. The only long-term feasible solution is to generate more power from renewable resources. If SECI comes up with its solar thermal capacity tender of 500 MW, it can be a great value addition to the green energy space in India and help fill the gap in power requirements and supply.
Source: https://www.zeebiz.com/ https://www.reuters.com/
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