Impacts of solar schemes and hydrogen mission in renewable sector

The government has previously stated that it intends to make green hydrogen usage mandatory in some industries, such as refineries and fertilisers.

The Indian power sector is currently looking at revamping its capacity addition of 500 GW of renewable power in the sector. The original target of renewable power, which was 20 GW at first, was later enhanced to 175 GW by 2022. Presently, we are at 100+ GW of capacity addition, comprising 50 percent of wind and solar energy, and the remaining 10 percent from biomass and other renewable energy sources like small hydro. And renewable plus clean means that large hydro and nuclear power plants are included as clean and non GHG emitters.

RE schemes impacting rooftop segment

When it comes to future power sector capacity addition, rooftop solar has a capacity objective of over 40 GW, which is currently underperforming, with only 6 GW deployed in the rooftop solar segment. So there is one area where budgetary considerations will be relevant in the future.

In the residential sector, there are currently some subsidy plans for small rooftop solar systems, but we can achieve more. Individuals may be eligible for income tax breaks for installing rooftop solar systems. Because the entire income tax process is now digitised, it is easier to establish such a system via MNRE or SECI, and the advantages can subsequently be distributed to a larger population.

PM’s KUSUM Scheme and Agro PV Scheme

 The second issue is that there is a PM KUSUM Scheme, which is primarily focused on irrigation pumping for the agriculture sector, and it’s a massive scheme with a total capacity of 30 GW, divided into three components: grid-connected solar power plants that can be installed on barren land; agricultural land that is around 5 KM from the substation; and electricity that can be directly fed into DISCOMs.

The powering of solar irrigation pump sets with a capacity of 20 LPA or more is the second component. The third option is to use solar power to solarise electric pump sets. Half of the goals have been reached so far, but agriculture encompasses a lot more than just irrigation. Other agricultural processes take a lot of energy, and we need to look into those areas carefully in terms of investments and financing, as well as the use of clean energy, especially when we focus on food processing and post-harvest processing of agricultural produce.

As a result, it is critical to have not only an Agro PV scheme for utilising photovoltaics on agricultural land, where cultivation can take place beneath the solar modules, but also an Agro PV scheme for using photovoltaics on non-agricultural property. As a result, they’ve been installed on the steam. As a result, the cost of installation rises, but the area can be used for both agriculture and solar energy generation.

Integrating biomass for various purposes 

Biomass, which is a byproduct of agriculture, can be processed for a variety of purposes, including the production of biomass-based fuels, compressed biogas generation from agricultural waste or food processing waste, and so on. A budget can look into utilising these biofuels and biogas for uses such as tractor or agriculture machinery running as an innovative programme promoting new technology.  

As a result of post-harvest processing, agricultural produce and trash are converted into energy and used for agriculture advances now and in the future, when we aim for net zero by 2070. “I believe some of these are important factors because agriculture is one of the major activities in which more than 70 percent of the population participates, and we need to look into decarbonising agriculture activity right now so that we can achieve net-zero by 2070,” says Shirish Garud, Director – Renewable Energy Technologies, The Energy Resource Institute (TERI).

Hydrogen economy

Since 2006, we have actively supported hydrogen technology as a country. The first hydrogen mission was launched by MNRE in 2014, and it was later updated in 2015-16. However, because the technology is largely highly expensive, little has done on the ground. And, because to the decreasing cost of solar renewable energy, hydrogen has become a catchphrase; as a result, electrolyser-based hydrogen production is a part of the traditional mile processes of natural gas, steam deformation, and coal gasification.

So, in addition to the latest budget, the administration announced the hydrogen mission on August 15th.

However, the legal paperwork is still forthcoming, and we anticipate tremendous investment potential in hydrogen. The PLI scheme for hydrogen electrolysers, in particular, is appealing because we have very cheap solar and wind energy, and if we can keep electrolyser costs under control and use them around the clock using green energy through innovative banking or support mechanisms, hydrogen can become very viable.

Hydrogen energy is the way forward 

We have already missed a solar PV boom by not fostering local manufacture, since imported models already dominate the PV supply. The same should not be said for hydrogen technology. As a result, it is vital to promote hydrogen electrolyser technology through financial support and creative financing strategies. 

The government has already stated its desire to make green hydrogen consumption mandatory in some industries, such as refineries and fertilisers. That is one method to start a market for green hydrogen. However, if we are to achieve 1 million metric tonnes of green hydrogen production by 2030, we must carefully examine the technological innovations.