Energetica India 89 - May 2020

• Stressed financial situation of distri - bution companies, and • The lack of consumer awarenessof costs and technical performance char- acteristics, rooftop structural require- ments, economic benefits, financial op - tions, and contractual O&M options E nergetica I ndia : How does the SUPRA- BHA initiative help to answer the roof- top solar challenges? M ani K hurana : The World Bank line of credit to SBI is helping resolve the chal- lenge of non-availability of concessional financing for solar rooftop. While SUPRA - BHA focusses on addressing the other challenges as stated in the previous question, the cornerstone of the SUPRA- BHAprogram is the handholding support provided to the agencies in 17 states on implementing the government’s rooftop solar program in cooperation with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. In parallel, the program collaborates with the CERC and other institutes to work on strategic topics. The activities underSUPRABHAare structured within the five thematic ar - eas—policy and regulatory, capacity building, raising consumer awareness through media outreach campaigns, process streamlining, and aggregation of demand for rooftop solar. In the last two years the state nodal agencies were supported on aggregat- ing the demand in government buildings and supporting the bidprocess manage- ment. The programnow complements the support ofthe distribution utilities on promoting rooftop solar in the residential sector. A national-level media outreach campaign has been designed, and state agencies are supported with strate- gies to implement the same. IT support is provided to the state implementing agency for developing the digital portals for streamlining the rooftop application process. The state governments are supported with the necessary support to update the policy and regulations for fa- cilitating the rooftop solar growth. Lastly, there is a comprehensive capacity build- ing program implemented for bankers, distribution utility officials, project devel - opers, and entrepreneurs. E nergetica I ndia : What kind of success has this programme seen since its in- ception? M ani K hurana : The program undertook several flagship initiatives and continues to work on several others. Policy & Regulatory • Updated the model regulation on grid-interactive distributed renewable energy sources in collaboration with the Central Electricity Regulatory Com- mission and Forum of Regulators.The model regulation reflects the learnings during the initial implementation phase of the rooftop solar program. It supports harmonization of the regulations at the state level by providing clarity on the main parameters, for instance, energy accounting and settlement mechanism, innovative business models, increased hosting capacity and delinking the project capacity with sanctioned load, among others. Digital Interventions • Streamlining the rooftop solar appli- cation processthrough unified web por - tals (UWP).It is a common integrated platform at a state level, for consumers to apply for the rooftop solar system, track the progress of their application and access subsidies if any. It provides transparency to consumers on the entire process and ensures a hassle-free expe- rience for a consumer to install a roof- top solar system. It is expected that in the next three-four months, all 17 states under the technical assistance program will have these portals operational. Sev- eral hundreds of applications have been processed through the operational por- tals. • Conducing the pre-feasibility assess- ment rooftop project site and sharing the information through a digital repository. The data is transparently shared with the prospective bidders during the competi- tive bidding process. The information re- duces the transaction cost or consumer acquisition cost for the developers. So far, the Suprabha program has assist- ed several states in aggregating rooftop solar demand of approximately 320 MW from 4000 potential sites. Capacity Building • Capacity building and training of key stakeholders.For the rooftop solar sector to grow significantly and sustain, it is imperative to have trained human capital in the key stakeholders, namely the bankers, utility officials, developers, and entrepreneurs. The SUPRABHA pro- gram has trained over 1,260 personnel developing the technical skills of roof- top solar system designers and install- ers,the know-how of utility officials on the interconnection of systems safely to the grid,enhancing project appraisal skills of financial institutions, and increasing pri - vate sector participation by developing entrepreneurialskills. E nergetica I ndia : How does the COVID-19 pandemic impact the growth of rooftop solar? M ani K hurana : The value proposition of rooftop solar is strongly established and is irreversible. The demand for new rooftop solar installation could remain subdued in the short term – in the next two quarters, depending on the impact of COVID-19 on the country’s economy. But I expect the normalcy to return in the medium and long term. The pandemic affects both the demand and supply side of the rooftop solar val- ue chain. The cash flows of consumers are disrupt - ed, which might lead to delays in capital investment decisions in rooftop solar. However, it could also be an opportunity for the renewable energy service com- panies (RESCO) to fill the gap, as many businesses would look for options to re- duce their operational costs. And rooftop solar could well fit the bill. The supply-side disruptions, coupled with a weaker currency, may lead to proj- ect delays and uncertainty on the project cost due to significant import dependen - cy for solar equipment. 24 energetica INDIA- May_2020 INTERVIEW