Centre has no plan to scrap any green energy project: Pralhad Joshi

New Delhi, Dec 10 The Centre has not cancelled the award of any renewable energy project nor has it prepared any list of projects for cancellation in the future, New and Renewable Energy Minister Pralhad Joshi told the Parliament on Wednesday.

In a written reply to a question, the minister said that Renewable Energy Implementing Agencies (REIA), including the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the NTPC, the NHPC, and the SJVN, have issued letters of award (LoAs) of 67,554 megawatt in respect of renewable power procurement tenders issued since April 2023.

"States are also issuing renewable power procurement tenders, and renewable power capacity is also being added in commercial and industrial sectors through green energy open access or captive route. Thus, capacity addition of renewable energy is progressing through multiple pathways and not necessarily only through REIA-led bids," he said.

With the declining cost of solar-plus-storage and dispatchable renewable power, there is a growing preference among distribution companies and end procurers for such solutions. This shift has been accompanied by reduced demand for plain solar power.

"Solar-plus-storage configurations are also being preferred over wind-solar hybrid projects, particularly due to their ability to supply power during peak demand hours. Accordingly, the government has sensitised the REIAs to move from plain solar tenders to tenders of solar with energy storage, tenders with configuration to supply renewable power during peak hours and firm and dispatchable renewable energy," the minister pointed out.

India has an installed non-fossil fuel-based power generation capacity of 259 GW currently, with 31.2 GW added in the current financial year up to October. In order to facilitate the further execution of power purchase agreements (PPAs), the government is urging states to comply with the Renewable Consumption Obligation (RCO) under the Energy Conservation Act.

The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) had earlier this month also clarified that it has not issued any advisory to financial institutions for stopping lending to either renewable energy power projects or to renewable energy equipment manufacturing facilities, as has been reported in some sections of the media.

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