In the next fiscal, the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy would be advising power sector regulators to impose penalties on companies, failing to comply with the renewable purchase obligations, said Tarun Kapoor, Joint Secretary to the Ministry on Monday.
He was addressing participants at Intersolar India, a dedicated conference on the solar industry.
The Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) is being implemented throughout the country to create demand for renewable energy. It is similar to the Renewable Energy Certificates.
Under the Electricity Act 2003, power companies and companies that require captive power are obliged to purchase a certain percentage of power from renewable energy sources.
Kapoor said that currently, solar RPO has been fixed at 0.25 per cent of the total power procured. However, the target is not being met by many companies. Even large companies like Reliance Industries and SAIL have failed to fulfil their obligations.
Keeping this in mind, the power sector regulators have been advised to levy the penalty next year, he said.
New target
In spite of the road blocks, the Ministry has set an ambitious target of producing 10,000 MW of solar power by 2017.
Currently the national installed capacity is about 1,000 MW, to which the Ministry wants to add 3,000 MW by promoting grid connected power plants. It also wants the State Government utilities to add 6,000 MW capacity.
Kapoor said that for the grid connected power plants, the Ministry would be footing a subsidy bill of about Rs 6,000 crore over five years.
He said that most of the upcoming solar power plants based on photovoltaic technology are on schedule, however, five plants designed on solar thermal technology have run into problems.
These plants require heat transfer fluid for producing power, and since the fluid is not readily available in the market, they have run into problems. Only two US-based companies are currently producing it, he said.
If developed indigenously, this fluid could provide a new business opportunity for oil companies, Kapoor added.