Coimbatore: With the renewable energy sector all set to become the major source of power generation in the not too distant future, sadly companies here depend on China for 99% of solar panels and more than 70% related technical components.
Coimbatore: With the renewable energy sector all set to become the major source of power generation in the not too distant future, sadly companies here depend on China for 99% of solar panels and more than 70% related technical components.
This being the case, more tariff barriers, subsidized financing for encouraging domestic equipment usage, rigorous testing of foreign equipment and prior permission requirements for imports from rival nations, are some of the key areas of India’s proposed power sector overhaul currently in the works. This comes in the backdrop of India contemplating an economic response against China and is part of a wider dissociating exercise embarked on by the Indian government since the 15 June Indo-China border clashes.
Addressing the industry majors, the central power and new and renewable energy minister Raj Kumar Singh said recently that some countries who are rivals or potential adversaries will be identified as “prior reference countries", and a prior government permission will be required before importing any equipment from there.
This dispensation will be applicable across the power sector value chain including generation, distribution and transmission, both in the conventional and the green energy space. India’s power generators have also acknowledged the need to improve the electricity supply network and move toward a more carbon-neutral economy coupled with a sector overhaul.
Speaking on this the president of Indian Wind Power Association (IWPA), K. Kasthurirangaiyan said, "The installed capacity of wind power in India is 37,000 MW out of which 9,300 MW is from Tamil Nadu. The impact of China in the wind energy sector is very low because 99% of the machine and components needed in the wind energy sector are manufactured by Indian industries.
Whereas in the solar sector, even though many Indian companies are in the fray, a lot of imports are done from China. With the costs of Chinese products being much cheaper, many Indian power generators prefer China over India.
Apart from China, imports are done from countries such as Thailand and Vietnam too. If the government bans the import of solar power generation components from China, we can both import from the USA and also utilize our very own product although it could prove to be a bit costly."
Tamil Nadu Solar Energy Developers Association's (TANSPA) treasurer, Sastha M Raja said, "Renewable energy sectors play a major role in fulfilling the increasing electricity demand across the nation. At present, the solar sector in our country has an installed capacity of 20,000 MW, which includes 3,000 MW from Tamil Nadu.
At present, 99% of the solar panels used in India are imported from China along with 70% of related components such as solar cells, ribbons, back-board etc. Some companies in India import the components from China and assemble them in India.
The cost of Indian solar panels is exorbitant when compared to Chinese prices. This is why we import a lot from China. For India to become self-sufficient in manufacturing solar panels at affordable costs, the central government should facilitate the infrastructure."