Wind-Solar Hybrid

A new report establishes the feasibility of wind-solar-storage hybrid projects over new coal plants in the Indian States with high renewable energy potential. Tamil Nadu was chosen for the techno-commercial assessment.

The National Solar Energy Federation has asked the State to consider a 15-year electricity duty exemption, transmission charges on the entire capacity instead of per-kWh basis, and delinking of the secondary RE source capacity from the rated power capacity of the primary RE source to promote hybrid project deployment.

Uncertainty around generation compensation in the event of curtailment due to grid safety reasons and the requirement to maintain at least 33% wind project share in the total contracted capacity are among the deciding factors in tariff assessment.  

With this project, Adani Green Energy’s total renewable energy project capacity has swelled to 14,795 MW, of which 2,950 MW projects are operational and 11,845 MW under implementation.  

The analyst said currently, India and Australia are the only Asia Pacific countries where renewable power already costs lower than new-build coal. It predicted the trend would spread to the entire region by the end of the decade, while India and Australia would see renewables becoming further cheaper than coal.

Indian solar sector remained buoyant even amid Covid pandemic as 15.3 GW of solar capacity (including solar-wind hybrid) was sanctioned in the current year’s first half itself. However, returns expectations from equity investments rose from around 14% in the first half of 2019 to 16-17%, indicating heightened risk perceptions among investors.

A new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (Ieefa) and JMK Research estimates India to have about 11.6 GW of operational wind-solar hybrid capacity by 2023.

The government is trying to harness renewables to increase domestic output but will need a more liberal energy market and to consider the structure of procurement auctions, cloying red tape and the financial travails of state utilities if it is to achieve its goals, says Rakshika Kaul of Amp Energy India.

Projects can be established anywhere in the state which has spare grid capacity, with the relevant substations listed on the Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation website.

The Colorado-based firm has set up an office in Bengaluru to deliver consulting and technical expertise to local developers and investors in solar, wind and hybrid projects, including energy storage.