Energetica India - June 2020

Insufficient Policy Support for Clean Energy Startups and SMEs in India: WWF Report While India’s move towards clean ener- gy transition has led to the emergence of various startups and Small and Me- doum Enterprises (SMEs), there are only a few of policies that help accel- erate the growth of these companies to meet India’s clean energy demands, as per a new report by World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) India. “While almost 140 government interven- tions focus directly or/and indirectly on clean energy and startups and SMEs, only 38 policies actually target SMEs in the clean energy ecosystem, making it difficult for SMEs to reap the benefits of the provisions,” the report, published in association with cKinetics, said. It maps the clean energy ecosystem, attempts at an analysis of the sector to identify individual constraints and offers policy recommendations to propel the growth of cleantech SMEs in the coun- try. The “Clean energy policy landscape in the SME sector” report delves into six segments including solar rooftop, elec- tric mobility, energy efficiency, smart energy, waste-to-energy and energy access, that are expected to have a considerable impact across key sectors such as industries, buildings, and trans- portation. “The COVID-19 pandemic and its re- sultant lockdown has impacted SMEs and start-ups the most, leaving the sector to seek support from the govern- ment through policy reforms in order to bounce back and drive clean energy innovations in the country,” WWF India said in a statement announcing the launch of the report. The report suggests practical steps to be taken including credit guarantee and risk-mitigation mechanisms under public financing and augmenting fund - ing under the public sector, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and other avenues that would enable incubators to provide early-stage risk capital to start-ups. Investments Worth $1 Trillion Required by 2030 for Power Sector Transition to Decarbonization: Frost & Sullivan Report Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis, Growth Opportunities in Distributed Energy, Forecast to 2030, finds that the rate of annual investment in distributed energy resources (DER) will increase by 75% by 2030, with the market set for a decade of high growth. Favorable regulations, declining project and tech- nology costs, and high electricity and demand charges are key factors driving investments in DER across the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic will reduce investment levels in the short term, but the market will recover. Throughout the decade, $846 billion will be invested in DER, supported by a further $285 billion that will be invested in battery storage. “The DER business model will play an increasingly pivotal role in the global power mix as part of a wider effort to de- carbonize the sector,” said Maria Benin - tende, Senior Energy Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “Additionally, solar photovolta- ic (PV) will dominate throughout the de- cade. Residential solar PV will account for 49.3% of total investment ($419 billion) with commercial and industrial solar PV accounting for a further 38.9% ($330 billion).” Benintende added: “In developing economies, DER offers a chance to bridge the electricity supply gap that still exists in a number of country mar- kets. Further, in developed markets, DER is a key part of the transition to a cleaner and more resilient energy sys- tem.” DER offers significant revenue growth prospects for all key market partici- pants, including • Technology original equipment man- ufacturers (OEMs): Offer flexible af - ter-sales support, including digital solutions such as asset integrity and optimization services for their installed base. • System integrators and installers: Tar - get household customers and provide efficient and trustworthy solutions with flexible financial models. • Energy service companies (ESCOs): ESCOs should focus on adding DER deployments to expand and enhance their traditional role of providing ener- gy savings and demand-side manage- ment services to customers. • Utility companies: Deployment of DER can create new revenue streams for util- ity companies, from real-time and flexi - bility markets. Further, DER provides an opportunity to aggregate service offer- ings and expand the customer base. NEWS NEWS 12 energetica INDIA- June_2020