Karnataka has overtaken Gujarat to become the third highest producer of renewable energy after Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.
The state, which occupied the fourth position last year, has outranked Gujarat in the recently released progress report of the Union ministry of new and renewable energy.
Energy minister D K Shivakumar said in a tweet: “At 7,458MW, Karnataka now has the 3rd highest installed capacity in renewable energy. We will soon surpass Maharashtra to become 2nd in India.” The neighbouring Tamil Nadu is on top with 10,625 MW.
G V Balaram, MD of Karnataka Renewable Energy Devlopment, said with the development of Asia’s biggest solar park at Pavagada in Tumakuru district, they were confident of clinching the number one spot by April 2018. Farmers have voluntarily contributed over 12,000 acres for the project, which is estimated to cost Rs 20,000 crore.
What led to the paradigm shift? “The third rank among 29 states follows a marked shift in policy. Strong government support coupled with an attractive renewable energy policy has propelled Karnataka to the third place,” Balaram said.
He said the turnaround was possible because of increased targets fixed by Union ministry of renewable energy at 175 GW (gigawatts) by 2022. The Karnataka government revised its policy twice and set an ambitious target of solar energy generation at 6,000MW by March 2022 while the state’s solar power potential is estimated to be above 24,700 MW.
“Wind and solar energy have received good response, and the state has added 3,200 MW from renewable energy sources in the past four years. This year, we will add 3,000MW from solar power alone,” he added.
At present, he said Karnataka is the only state to provide such a lucrative proposition for solar power adoption. The state government acts as a major facilitator to bridge the energy demand and supply gap and supply power to the grid. Solar energy is getting cheaper by the year and in some time, it would be cheaper than the electricity grid,” Balaram added.
“The favourable policy has also enabled large corporates to buy significant proportion of their power from solar farms at a discount to supply to grids under long-term contracts with solar developers,” said Mahesh Raviraj, an executive associated with a reputable solar company.
The Karnataka government is also working with farmers to lease their land for solar and wind power generation and make them stakeholders in the energy future. When it comes to cogeneration (use of power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time) and biomass generation, Karnataka is growing faster than other states.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes
