The Government has decided to invite bids for 50 GW of renewable energy capacity annually for the next five years i.e., from Financial Year 2023-24 till Financial Year 2027-28. These annual bids of ISTS (Inter-State Transmission) connected renewable energy capacity will also include setting up of wind power capacity of at least 10 GW per annum. The plan finalized by Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) at a meeting chaired by Union Minister for Power & NRE R. K. Singh last week, is in accordance with Prime Minister’s announcement at COP26, of achieving 500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel (Renewable Energy + Nuclear) sources by 2030. India currently has a total renewable energy capacity of 168.96 GW (as on 28th February 2023) with about 82 GW at various stages of implementation and about 41 GW under tendering stage. This includes 64.38 GW Solar Power, 51.79 GW Hydro Power, 42.02 GW Wind Power and 10.77 GW Bio Power.
Considering the fact that Renewable Energy (RE) projects take around 18-24 months for commissioning, the bid plan will add 250 GW of renewable energy and ensure 500 GW of installed capacity by 2030. The Ministry of Power is already working on upgrading and adding the transmission system capacity for evacuating 500 GW of electricity from non-fossil fuel. Speaking during the meeting, R. K. Singh, Union Minister for Power & NRE said that the declaration of trajectory of short-term and long-term RE capacity addition by the Government is a significant step towards achieving the goal of 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030 and towards a faster energy transition. “India has emerged as one of the world leaders in Energy Transition and this is evident in the growth that we have achieved in the area of Renewable Energy. We are committed to achieve 500 GW of Target by 2030 and the bidding trajectory will provide a further stimulus towards this. The structured bidding trajectory will provide sufficient time to the RE developers to plan their finances, develop their business plans and manage the supply chain more efficiently This is a golden opportunity of industry to invest in this sector,” Singh said.
