7/28/2019 Thorough Planning of Solar Park Mitigates Risk for Investors, Locals

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Thorough Planning of

Solar Park Mitigates Risk

for Investors, Locals

February 2013 | Issue 44 India | Energy

CHALLENGES

A power struggle exists in India, one that affects the lives of morethan 1.2 billion people.

Independent power producers are struggling to keep up withincreasing demand for electricity, rising from an annual demandof 50 terawatt hours (TWh) 5 years ago to this years 80TWh.Thecountry faced an energy decit of 8.5% in 20102011, a gureexpected to rise to 10% in 20112012.1

Thermal power comprised of coal, natural gas, and dieselaccounts for 80% of the countrys generation. Coal use aloneaccounts for two-thirds. India has a shortage of domestic coal asoutput has stagnated due to delayed environmental clearances,land acquisition problems, and little investment in advancedtechnologies and renewable sources of energy.2

There was an urgent need to increase investment in therenewable energy sector and for policy makers to plot the way.

Meanwhile, local communities needed reassurance about theirland and livelihood because more real estate was being acquiredto house power plants.

APPROACH

Zeroing In on Solar Power. India has solar irradiation rangingfrom 4 to 7 kilowatt hours per square meter per day. Every year,the country has about 300 clear sunny days and about 2,300 to3,200 sunshine hours.

For 5 years starting in 2004, the Asian Development Bank (ADB)studied the challenges and opportunities of building the worldslargest solar park in the state of Gujarat in India. A report by theClinton Climate Initiative conrmed the state as a solar hot spot,

a region with high direct normal irradiance levels.3

Collaboration between state and national governments led tothe approval of the 2009 Gujarat Solar Power Policy, whichshowed private investors Indias resolve to deliver 20 gigawattsby 2020. This paved the way for the development of the Gujarat

solar power park, which, once fully operational, is expected toreduce carbon dioxide emissions by 5.2 million tons and save900,000 tons of natural gas annually.

Charanka, a desert village in the Patan District with a

population of less than 800, was the rst site developed for theGujarat solar power park.

Alleviat ing Doubts. The Charanka site is a massiveundertaking that occupies 2,500 hectares.

As the state government purchased real estate, ADB alleviatedthe residents worry about losing their land and livelihood byeducating4 them on the benets of solar power and preparingthem to take on the work opportunities to be engendered bythe solar power park, including those from ADBs Gujarat SolarPower Transmission Project, approved in 2011 and designedto develop transmission infrastructure that will evacuate powerfrom the solar power plants in Charanka.

To counter prevailing perception from potential investors thatsolar power was not a bankable venture, ADB partneredwith the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of theUnited States Department of Energy in Colorado to conductworkshops educating banks about the merits of investing insolar power.

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1 Price Waterhouse Coopers India reportat the 2012 India Energy Congress, 23 January 2012. http://www.pwc.in/assets/pdfs/publications-2011/wec-pwc-report.pdf

2 Bhanu Bhushan. 10 December 2012. Operational & Commercial Issues for Power Plants to be set up in India. Paper presented at the US-India workshop Challenges ofDovetailing New Nuclear, Fossil and Renewable Energy Projects into the Indian Power Sector. http://www.ippai.org/articles.aspx?aid=43

3Clinton Foundation Website. http://www.clintonfoundation.org/buildingabetterworld/projects.php?initiative=CCI

4Done through the Advanced Project Preparedness for Poverty Reduction - Gujarat Solar Vocational Training and Livelihoods Project (Subproject 14)

Highlights

Photobythe

GovernmentofGujarat

The solar power park in Charanka has provided local employment,empowered communities, and transformed a desert into a tourist attraction.

Indias Gujarat State passed a policy promoting the useof solar power to alleviate the escalating pressure toproduce thermal energy arising from the countrys growingconsumption.

The Charanka solar power park, poised to be the worldslargest photovoltaic power station upon its completion in

2014, was constructed using the build-own-operate modeReduced and xed solar power tariffs, favorable policies,capacity development, and education campaign drew theparticipation and sustained interest of investors, residents,civil society, and other key stakeholders.

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Build-Own-Operate. Once the idea of the solar power parkwas set, independent power producers were invited to helpbuild it. Government subsidies, xed tariff for solar power andclever marketing, in tandem with ADBs solid backing, eventuallyconvinced 84 private companies17 of which were for theCharanka siteto invest in the Gujarat solar power park.

Costs and risks were lowered by having the investors build, own,and then operate the project at a xed tariff of 13 rupees per unitof power for the rst 12 years and 3 rupees from the 13th to the25th.

ADB also assisted the government in formulating solar powerpolicies and promoting the idea of a single, colossal park insteadof several small ones. The latter reduced the parks cost viaeconomies of scale and helped the government sell the park toinvestors.

Strengthening the Partnership.The partnership among ADB,the Gujarat government, and the private sector made the mostof each partners strengths. The independent private providershandled the design of the park, ADB shared its expertisein innovative nancial solutions, and the national and stategovernments mitigated risks through favorable policies and tariffs,land issue settlement, and park promotion.

Other contributors included the Clinton Climate Initiative, thePandit Deendayal Petroleum University for the educationcomponent, civil society, and the local community who underwenttraining to become skilled workers of the solar park.

RESULTS

The 5 years of planning and careful execution are paying off.The Charanka site, the largest in the Gujarat solar power park, ispoised to become the worlds largest photovoltaic power station,with the capacity to host 500 megawatts of solar power systemsusing state-of-the-art thin lm technology once completed by endof 2014.

Through the vocational courses to be funded by ADB, some 500women will be trained starting February 2013 to become leadersand operate mini-grids that will be set up in remote Gujaratvillages to boost local employment.

The Charanka park has also become a tourist destination,attracting an audience interested in seeing how the massive solarpanels work. This development has generated considerable localemployment.

Admittedly, government subsidies are still needed to makesolar power competitive. However, 2016 projections putthe price of coal and solar power in India at the same level,eliminating the need for subsidy.

Clearly, what is happening in Charanka is not only anenvironmentally sustainable solution to Indias power struggleit is also a demonstration of what proper planning andcooperation among local communities and the public andprivate sectors could do to transform a remote desert villageinto a thriving locality.

Related LinksSolar Power Policy 2009, Indian State Government of Gujarathttp://geda.gujarat.gov.in/policy_les/Solar Power policy 2009.pdf

Advanced Project Preparedness for Poverty Reduction - GujaratSolar Vocational Training and Livelihoods Project (Subproject 14)http://www.adb.org/projects/43166-194/main

Gujarat Solar Power Transmission Projecthttp://www.adb.org/projects/44431-013/main

KNOWLEDGE CONTRIBUTORS

Amit Jain (ajain1.consultant@adb.org) is ADBs energyaccess specialist. His involvement with the Gujarat

solar power project ranges from conceptualization tocommissioning of the park. He has a doctorate in solarengineering.

Naoki Sakai (nsakai@adb.org) is ADBs senior climatechange specialist for the South Asia Departments Energy

Division. He is the mission leader of the Gujarat solar powertransmission project.

The Knowledge Showcases Series, a product of theKnowledge Sharing and Services Center, highlights goodpractices and innovative ideas from ADB technical assistanceand other operations to promote further discussion andresearch.

www.adb.org/knowledgeshowcaseswww.knowledgeshowcases.org

The Asian Development Bank is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asiaand Pacic region.

The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) anddo not necessarily reect the views and policies of ADB or its Board ofGovernors or the governments they represent.KNOWLEDGE

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