Energetica India - June 2020

WIND POWER Lowest tariff of Rs. 2.43 per unit could not be achieved again Graph 3: Wind Energy Project Auctions and Minimum Discovered Tariffs Source: Compiled by CSE One of the biggest setbacks for the wind market has been that from nearly 20 manufacturers operating in 2016-17, only a few survive now. Even the home-grown Suzlon Group, accounting for about 35 per cent of existing installations,is standing on the brink of bankruptcy. Experts believe that the wind ener- gy sector is experiencing strangulation given that despite its competency in manufacturing, it is not well supported. Hence, some policy corrections are required to recuperate it as the supply chain is available. Wind power development should be encouraged as long as the discovered prices are less than the average power purchase cost (APPC) in the country. The wind power sector has further suffered due to step-moth- erly treatment from the government, wherein policy attention has remained solar photovoltaic (PV) focused. A review of other policies Government’s policies regarding re-powering old power plants, solar-wind hybrid plants and offshore wind farms, which could revive sector growth, remain hazy. • Repowering: In 2016, the MNRE released the ‘Policy for Re- powering of Wind Power Projects’, which has been a disap- pointment as not a single project has taken up under this. It failed to address the fundamental issue of quantifying the cost of repowering wind projects and developing a mechanism to compensate the project owners. India can potentially add 10- GW of capacity by repowering old wind farms that current- ly occupy high wind sites but employ low capacity turbines. Repowering requiresconcerted efforts from the government to develop a new eco-system and an acceptance for slightly higher tariffs than regular projects. • Wind-Solar Hybrid: In May 2018, MNRE notified the Nation - al Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy intending to boost the combined operation of wind and solar PV plants configured to function at the same point of grid connection. The policy does not provide any specific timeline for formulating regulations for the imple - mentation of such projects. The hybrid tenders as with wind tenders received a lukewarm response, primarily because of the tariff-capping issue. However, the government is now in- troducing tweaks in upcoming Hybrid tenders to improve its investor appeal-like having different tariffs for peak and non- peak periods. A lot of policy attention is now being given to hybrid projects. energetica INDIA- June_2020 47