Policy making for renewable energy in India: lessons from wind and solar power sectors

Abstract

It is clear that developing countries will have to be part of the global mitigation effort to avoid 'dangerous climate change', and, indeed, many of them are already undertaking significant actions on multiple fronts to help address this problem, even if they have not yet taken on legally binding commitment under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Since the deployment of GHG-mitigating technologies is already a significant part of this effort and likely to be even more so in the future, drawing lessons from existing programmes can help accelerate and enhance the effectiveness of this deployment process. Accordingly, this article aims to examine the deployment of wind and solar power in India, paying specific attention to the role of public policy in incentivizing and facilitating this deployment, how these policies have evolved over time, what has shaped this evolution, and what the learning has been over this period. Through this analysis, the intention is to draw out key lessons from India's experience with deployment policies and programmes in these two sectors and highlight the issues that will need to be given particular consideration in the design of future domestic policies and international cooperation programmes to enhance the move towards climate-compatible development in India. Many of these lessons should also be relevant for other developing countries that are attempting to balance their climate and developmental priorities through the deployment of renewable energy technologies. Policy relevanceFor developing countries, such as India, that are expected to enhance the pace of climate change relevant action in the coming years, an informed policy design within this domain is crucial. This paper analyses the evolution of two climate relevant sectors within India, exploring the factors and imperatives shaping the pertinent policy framework over the years, offering insights into specific developing country constraints and considerations. A better understanding of policies (and their drivers) that have played a role in deployment of low-carbon technologies as discussed in this paper will be useful towards the design of future domestic policies and international cooperation programs to facilitate a more efficient and effective move towards climate-compatible development.

Overcoming barriers to solar and wind energy adoption in two Asian giants: India and Indonesia

“…Procurement of wind power in India has a much longer history, with the first wind farm opening in the 1980s. State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) historically set fixed feed-in tariffs for wind projects, with wind investors benefitting from accelerated depreciation allowances (Chaudhary et al, 2015;Thapar et al, 2016). Following the success of the reverse auctions for solar, in 2017 the Ministry of Power released guidelines for competitive bidding for wind.…”

Solar thermal power generation in India: effect of potential incentives on unit cost of electricity

“…The study suggests that an REC mechanism, if implemented strictly, can effectively promote renewable energy generation with benefit to all stakeholders. Chaudhary, Krishna, and Sagar (2014) examined the deployment of wind and solar power in India, paying specific attention to the role of policy in incentivising and facilitating this development. Preliminary feasibility evaluation of solar thermal power generation in India was undertaken by Sundaray and Kandpal (2013).…”

Bureaucratic manoeuvres and the local politics of climate change mitigation in China and India

“…There is also evidence that policy changes may not just align existing interests, but can also lead to the formation of new interest groups, which are able to lobby for their sectoral interests. For example, Chaudhary, Krishna, and Sagar highlight how the wind energy sector in India was able to lobby the government to reverse a “catastrophic” decision to cut the incentives provided to wind energy (Chaudhary et al., , pp. 69–70).…”

“…69–70). They also identify how the increased emphasis on solar energy has meant that “solar project developers … have now emerged as strong actors involved in policy shaping” (Chaudhary et al., , p. 79). This suggests that the pursuit of interest‐based and more long‐term alliances are not necessarily mutually exclusive and that alliances built on the alignment of economic interests can give rise to more long‐term coalitions.…”