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As India leads the path for renewable energy, the southern state of Karnataka is making waves and is even ahead of leading European countries in the field such as Denmark and the Netherlands.
According to a recent report, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a U.S.-based think tank, ranked Tamil Nadu as one of the top nine markets in the world for acquiring a high percentage of net energy needs from renewable energy sources, the Better India's website reported.
The study assessed the top 15 countries or power markets in the world, where the share of solar and wind energy in proportion to their total energy requirements is high. Denmark leads the way, with 53 percent of its energy coming from renewable sources in 2017, which corresponds to about which produces around 7.7 GW of renewable energy, followed by Southern Australia and Uruguay.
But, in 2016-17, Tamil Nadu acquired 14.3 percent of its energy needs from wind and solar energy sources but produced 9.6 GW of renewable energy, more than that produced by Denmark.
“Tamil Nadu also leads India in installed renewable energy capacity. Of the total 30 GW of installed capacity across the state as of March 2017, variable wind and solar power accounted for 9.6 GW or 32% of the total. Firm hydroelectricity added another 2.2 GW or 7%, nuclear 8% and biomass and run of river, 3%," says the IEEFA report.
But, according to a News 18 report, in just twelve months, another Southern state, Karnataka, has left Tamil Nadu behind to become India’s biggest producer of renewable energy with an installed capacity of 12.3 GW (GigaWatts), including 5 GW of solar energy, 4.7 GW of wind energy, and approximately 2.6 GW of hydro, biomass, and heat and power co-generation.
According to IEEFA, Karnataka has been taking advantage of several positive renewable energy policies like open access, the introduction of a hybrid wind-solar development policy and significant steps to reverse Karnataka’s historic reliance on energy imports. The state government quickly decided to implement multiple policies that would encourage setting up a series of solar parks, try out new technologies and also create an awareness among farmers about trying out renewable energy generation.
For instance, there has been a big rise in private power production after the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) decided to withdraw a slew of surcharges which were earlier levied on private companies that sold renewable power directly to consumers and not through the state electricity utility, which in turn also helped develop the 2 GW Pavagada industrial solar park, the world’s second-largest such facility under construction.
"It is very heartening to see that Karnataka’s electricity reforms to renewable energy strategies are being held up as a role model. However, we need to know if these reforms have actually been implemented right down to the consumer level, if Karnataka has worked out methods of storage of energy to feed into a grid as necessary, or if it has reduced its transmission and distribution losses. Only then can we actually hold Karnataka up as a model," Keya Acharya, President, Forum of Environmental Journalists in India (FEJI).
The state government also implemented a scheme specifically designed to get farmers to produce solar power. Under this, farmers could use government subsidies to switch to solar-powered irrigation pumps and sell the surplus power into the grid.
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