By Solar Times Bureau.
A one day Workshop on Grid Integration of Renewable Energy & Rooftop Solar in Urban Areas in collaboration with Govt. of Germany was inaugurated by Sh. R.P. Watal, Secretary MNRE in New Delhi on 16th April 2013. In the inauguration ceremony Sh. S.P. Watal addressed the media that, “Our 12th Five Year Plan proposals for the next five years (2012-17) seek a capacity addition of 30 GW, of which 25 GW is expected to come from wind and solar energy.” Wind and solar are location-specific and not distributed uniformly. At present, renewable electricity generated is absorbed within the state and grid balancing issues limit the absorption of such electricity to a certain limit. The Joint Declaration of Intent between India and Germany was signed for soft credit up to one billion euro (Rs 71 billion) during Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s visit to Germany on April 11, 2013.
Speaking on the occasion, Sh. Alok Srivastava Joint Secretary MNRE said that Germany possesses advanced technology in Grid Integration of Renewable Energy and Rooftop Solar in Urban Areas and India is seeking Germany’s cooperation to bring that technology to India. MNRE which is the nodal Ministry of the Government of India for all matters relating to new and renewable energy has achieved deployment of 27 GW of grid-connected renewable energy by February 2013, he added.
A MoU between Solar Energy Centre and Fraunhofer Institute for cooperation and exchanges in various areas including solar photovoltaic; solar thermals systems; hydrogen and fuel cells was signed during Prime Minister’s recent visit to Germany. Both sides also commend the energy policy dialogue under way in the Indo-German Energy Forum (IGEF), which is coordinated by the Indian Ministry of Power and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, as well as the opening of an IGEF Support Office in New Delhi. Under the auspices of IGEF an “Excellence Enhancement Centre” has been established for bilateral cooperation on sharing of best practices in the area of enhancing efficiency of thermal power plants. There are plans for private sector to participate to an even greater degree in the 6th Indo-German Energy Forum scheduled for the first quarter of 2014 in New Delhi. The ongoing policy dialogue between the relevant ministries will likewise be continued and expanded. This concerns in particular cooperation projects in the field of enhancing efficiency of thermal power plants, renewable energy and energy efficiency. MNRE in cooperation with Indo-German Energy Forum and Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, a non-profit, independent, donor organization is working in areas of renewable energy, energy efficiency, electric utilities, sustainable transport planning, fuel efficiency and climate policy.
The workshop discussed issues related to Grid Integration of Renewable Energy and Rooftop Solar in Urban Areas.