Greentech Lead India: India is advancing with its solar
mission. Several projects under the Phase I of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar
Mission (JNNSM) have been completed, said the Minister of New and Renewable
Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah.
Grid connected projects of total capacity of 1047.16 MW
have already been commissioned. Under off-grid scheme, 160.8 MW of
photo-voltaic based systems have been sanctioned and 6.07 million square meter
of collector area of solar water heating has been installed.
The first phase of JNNSM ends on March 2013.
Policy guidelines for implementation of various schemes
under Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) are formulated by the
Government.
The Minister also told that the government plans to add
30,000 MW from renewable energy during the 12th Plan period. The Ministry is
supporting research in various renewable energy technologies for improvement in
efficiency, reduction in cost and to develop new applications.
The total installed capacity of renewable energy based
power in the country is 26,267 MW.
Power generation from renewable is at present generally
more expensive than that from conventional sources. While cost of power
generation from wind, biomass and small hydro are comparable with cost of power
from conventional sources, solar power may take some more time to achieve grid
parity.