Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission
Encyclopedia
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (also known as the National Solar Mission) is a major initiative of the Government of India
and State Governments to promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing India’s energy security
challenges. It will also constitute a major contribution by India to the global effort to meet the challenges of climate change
. Named for Jawaharlal Nehru
, the Mission is one of the several initiatives that are part of National Action Plan on Climate Change. The program was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh.
as a global leader in solar energy, by creating the policy conditions for its diffusion across the country as quickly as possible. The immediate aim of the Mission is to focus on setting up an enabling environment for solar technology penetration in the country both at a centralized and decentralized level. The first phase (up to 2013) will focus on capturing of the low hanging options in solar thermal
; on promoting off-grid
systems to serve populations without access to commercial energy and modest capacity addition in grid-based systems. In the second phase, after taking into account the experience of the initial years, capacity will be aggressively ramped up to create conditions for up scaled and competitive solar energy penetration in the country.
projects by 2013. The implementation of this phase is in hands of a subsidiary of National Thermal Power Corporation
, the largest power producer in India. The subsidiary, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN), laid out guidelines for selection of developers for commissioning grid connected solar power projects in India. See JNNSM Phase 1 Guidelines. While NVVN is the public face of this phase, several other departments and ministries will play a significant role in formulating guidelines. NVVN will sign power purchase agreements with the developers. Since NVVN is not a utility
, it will sell purchased power to different state utilities via separate agreements.
and solar thermal
. The latter is quite ambitious given India has no operational solar thermal projects and less than 10MW of solar PV projects. While growing at a rapid pace lately, solar thermal technologies are still evolving globally. The first batch of projects allotted for Phase 1 included 150MW of Solar PV and 500MW of Solar Thermal. NVVN issued Request for Selection document outlining criteria for selection of projects under the Phase 1. See Solar Thermal RFS, Solar PV RfS
A growing solar PV industry is India is hoping to take off by supplying equipment to power project developers. Well known equipment manufacturers started increasing their presence in India and may give competition to local Indian manufacturers. Due to generally high temperatures in India, crystalline silicon
-based products are not the most ideal ones. Thin film
technologies like amorphous silicon
, CIGS and CdTe
could be more suitable for higher temperature situations.
Solar thermal technology providers barely have a foothold in India. Few technology providers like Abengoa
have some Indian presence in anticipation of demand from this mission.
The approach for reverse bidding and methodology to calculate the discount to be offered was presented by Shri Shakti Alternative Energy Ltd through a webinar on 19th October 2010 on the eve of the reverse bidding by NVVN Download presentation on Reverse Bidding by NVVN - What to Expect . The quantum of discount would depend on project site location (i.e solar radiation), technology used, simulated energy generation, capital cost and interest cost. Multivariate analysis was carried out using key variables like capital cost, interest and the capacity utilization factor (i.e CUF which is actual generation of the plant and depends on the location (radiation) and technology used)to calculate the levelized tariff for a target equity IRR based on which the discount to be offered can be determined.
The final 30 solar PV projects selected had bids between INR 10.95 to INR 12.75. The Solar Thermal projects selected had bids between INR 10.24 to INR 12.24. PPAs were signed with IPPs in early January.
Market responded to domestic content requirement by choosing to procure thin film modules from well established international players. A significant number of announced project completions are using modules from outside India .
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
and State Governments to promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing India’s energy security
Energy security
Energy security is a term for an association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption. Access to cheap energy has become essential to the functioning of modern economies. However, the uneven distribution of energy supplies among countries has led...
challenges. It will also constitute a major contribution by India to the global effort to meet the challenges of climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
. Named for Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
, the Mission is one of the several initiatives that are part of National Action Plan on Climate Change. The program was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh.
Goals
The objective of the National Solar Mission is to establish IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
as a global leader in solar energy, by creating the policy conditions for its diffusion across the country as quickly as possible. The immediate aim of the Mission is to focus on setting up an enabling environment for solar technology penetration in the country both at a centralized and decentralized level. The first phase (up to 2013) will focus on capturing of the low hanging options in solar thermal
Solar thermal energy
Solar thermal energy is a technology for harnessing solar energy for thermal energy . Solar thermal collectors are classified by the United States Energy Information Administration as low-, medium-, or high-temperature collectors. Low-temperature collectors are flat plates generally used to heat...
; on promoting off-grid
Off-the-grid
The term off-the-grid or off-grid refers to living in a self-sufficient manner without reliance on one or more public utilities....
systems to serve populations without access to commercial energy and modest capacity addition in grid-based systems. In the second phase, after taking into account the experience of the initial years, capacity will be aggressively ramped up to create conditions for up scaled and competitive solar energy penetration in the country.
Timeline
The Mission will adopt a 3-phase approach, spanning the remaining period of the 11th Plan and first year of the 12th Plan (up to 2012-13) as Phase 1, the remaining 4 years of the 12th Plan (2013–17) as Phase 2 and the 13th Plan (2017–22) as Phase 3. At the end of each plan, and mid-term during the 12th and 13th Plans, there will be an evaluation of progress, review of capacity and targets for subsequent phases, based on emerging cost and technology trends, both domestic and global. The aim would be to protect Government from subsidy exposure in case expected cost reduction does not materialize or is more rapid than expected.Phase 1
The first phase of this mission aims to commission 1000MW of grid-connected solar powerSolar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
projects by 2013. The implementation of this phase is in hands of a subsidiary of National Thermal Power Corporation
National Thermal Power Corporation
NTPC Limited is the largest Indian state-owned energy service provider based in New Delhi, India. It is listed in Forbes Global 2000 for 2010 ranked it 341st in the world...
, the largest power producer in India. The subsidiary, NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN), laid out guidelines for selection of developers for commissioning grid connected solar power projects in India. See JNNSM Phase 1 Guidelines. While NVVN is the public face of this phase, several other departments and ministries will play a significant role in formulating guidelines. NVVN will sign power purchase agreements with the developers. Since NVVN is not a utility
Public utility
A public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...
, it will sell purchased power to different state utilities via separate agreements.
Technologies
For Phase 1 projects, NVVN started with a proposal for 50:50 allocation towards solar PVPhotovoltaic system
A photovoltaic system is a system which uses one or more solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity. It consists of multiple components, including the photovoltaic modules, mechanical and electrical connections and mountings and means of regulating and/or modifying the electrical...
and solar thermal
Solar thermal energy
Solar thermal energy is a technology for harnessing solar energy for thermal energy . Solar thermal collectors are classified by the United States Energy Information Administration as low-, medium-, or high-temperature collectors. Low-temperature collectors are flat plates generally used to heat...
. The latter is quite ambitious given India has no operational solar thermal projects and less than 10MW of solar PV projects. While growing at a rapid pace lately, solar thermal technologies are still evolving globally. The first batch of projects allotted for Phase 1 included 150MW of Solar PV and 500MW of Solar Thermal. NVVN issued Request for Selection document outlining criteria for selection of projects under the Phase 1. See Solar Thermal RFS, Solar PV RfS
A growing solar PV industry is India is hoping to take off by supplying equipment to power project developers. Well known equipment manufacturers started increasing their presence in India and may give competition to local Indian manufacturers. Due to generally high temperatures in India, crystalline silicon
Polycrystalline silicon
Polycrystalline silicon, also called polysilicon, is a material consisting of small silicon crystals. It differs from single-crystal silicon, used for electronics and solar cells, and from amorphous silicon, used for thin film devices and solar cells....
-based products are not the most ideal ones. Thin film
Thin film solar cell
A thin-film solar cell , also called a thin-film photovoltaic cell , is a solar cell that is made by depositing one or more thin layers of photovoltaic material on a substrate...
technologies like amorphous silicon
Amorphous silicon
Amorphous silicon is the non-crystalline allotropic form of silicon. It can be deposited in thin films at low temperatures onto a variety of substrates, offering some unique capabilities for a variety of electronics.-Description:...
, CIGS and CdTe
Cadmium telluride
Cadmium telluride is a crystalline compound formed from cadmium and tellurium. It is used as an infrared optical window and a solar cell material. It is usually sandwiched with cadmium sulfide to form a p-n junction photovoltaic solar cell...
could be more suitable for higher temperature situations.
Solar thermal technology providers barely have a foothold in India. Few technology providers like Abengoa
Abengoa
Abengoa is a Spanish multinational corporation, which includes companies in the domains of energy, telecommunications, transportation, and the environment...
have some Indian presence in anticipation of demand from this mission.
NVVN Solar PV allotment process for Phase 1
NVVN issued Request for Selection notice for allotment of capacity to Independent Power Producers (IPPs). See NVVN Solar PV RfS. 150MWs of Solar PV and 470MW of Solar Thermal were up for allotment under the first batch of Phase 1 projects. Project size per IPP was fixed at 5MW for Solar PV and 100MW for Solar Thermal projects. To avoid allocating entire capacity to a select few corporate, guidelines required no two projects to have the same parent company or common shareholders. In case of over subscription, a reverse bidding process was to be used to select the final IPPs based on lowest tariff they offer. Several hundred IPPs responded to this RfS.The approach for reverse bidding and methodology to calculate the discount to be offered was presented by Shri Shakti Alternative Energy Ltd through a webinar on 19th October 2010 on the eve of the reverse bidding by NVVN Download presentation on Reverse Bidding by NVVN - What to Expect . The quantum of discount would depend on project site location (i.e solar radiation), technology used, simulated energy generation, capital cost and interest cost. Multivariate analysis was carried out using key variables like capital cost, interest and the capacity utilization factor (i.e CUF which is actual generation of the plant and depends on the location (radiation) and technology used)to calculate the levelized tariff for a target equity IRR based on which the discount to be offered can be determined.
The final 30 solar PV projects selected had bids between INR 10.95 to INR 12.75. The Solar Thermal projects selected had bids between INR 10.24 to INR 12.24. PPAs were signed with IPPs in early January.
Domestic content controversy
Guidelines for the solar mission mandated cells and modules for solar PV projects based on crystalline silicon to be manufactured in India. That accounts to over 60% of total system costs. For solar thermal, guidelines mandated 30% project to have domestic content. A rigorous controversy emerged between power project developers and solar PV equipment manufacturers. The former camp prefers to source modules by accessing highly competitive global market to attain flexible pricing, better quality, predictable delivery and use of latest technologies. The latter camp prefers a controlled/planned environment to force developers to purchase modules from a small, albeit growing, group of module manufacturers in India. Manufacturers want to avoid competition with global players and are lobbying the government to incentivise growth of local industry.Market responded to domestic content requirement by choosing to procure thin film modules from well established international players. A significant number of announced project completions are using modules from outside India .
See also
- Solar power in IndiaSolar power in IndiaIndia is densely populated and has high solar insolation, an ideal combination for using solar power in India. India is already a leader in wind power generation...
- Electricity sector in India
- Solar to light up Rural India