HOW LARGE SCALE SOLAR PLANTS WILL LOOK IN 2025?

NIVESHRAM N

M a n a g e r , G M D e v e l o p m e n t f r o m A m p l u s S o l a r

Utility Scale Projects in India

India ’ s national solar mission commits to achieve 100 GW of grid - connected solar power by 2022, we are only at app.39 GW of solar installations and roughly around 93 GW of renewable energy installations as of Mar ’ 21. One of the major roadblocks to achieving the 100 GW target is the regulatory uncertainty in the solar sector. Added to this, each of the states have a unique process & procedures from approval to commissioning. This makes the entire process complex and cumbersome for large solar developers.

Today states like Rajasthan and Karnataka have a combined solar installed capacity of approx. 12.5 GW of solar power, which is mainly due to their conducive solar policies accompanied by vast tracts of land availability which aided their growth. While solar policies across various states cover all aspects of solar power extensively, they tend to forget about land. Land is one of the most important resources which makes installation of utility - scale projects feasible. While availability of infertile land is preferred for a solar power plant, it is not always possible. Most of the upcoming solar plants today are constructed on agricultural land either by way of leasing or buying the land.

In the case of agricultural land, one worrying trend is the increase in the number of marginal farmers ( who own less than 2.5 acres of land ) . Such small land holdings not only increase the number of landowners solar power developers need to negotiate with, but also brings in political affiliations in the picture. This in turn leads to uncertainty in the project timelines. A solar power plant on average requires an approx. 4 acres of land per MW, and the increase in capacity increases land proportionately. Whereas when it comes to utility - scale conventional power projects, 1000 acres of land can be used to install thermal power plants of capacities 500 MW to 1GW, while solar developers are able to install only 250 - 300 MW of solar power.

With the falling solar power tariff and the rapid pace at which technology in the solar sector keeps changing, it makes solar power developers wary of investing in utility

scale projects with regulatory and land uncertainties. On an average the installation to commissioning time of utility scale solar projects is short, usually varying between 6 months to 1 year. In comparison, an average thermal power plant has a timeline of around 4 - 5 years and nuclear power plants around 5 - 7 years. This trend has led solar developers to explore other alternative options to reduce the land per MW of installation, including change in the orientation of PV installations, usage of bi - directional trackers and bi - facial modules. These technologies which were once considered dearer, are now becoming feasible due to the increase in land prices.

Solar policies do not work in isolation for utility - scale projects, but it requires an intersection of and, industrial and solar policy to be on the same page. States are required to actively engage with solar power developers especially in the area of land leasing and acquisition, this would not only alley the fears of investors but will also bring the much - needed investment to the sector.