Govt double downs on renewable energy to meet net-zero goals

Bengaluru: The government’s solar rooftop scheme, Pradhanmantri Suryodaya Yojana, will allow 1 crore households to claim 300 units of free energy every month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday during the interim budget presentation.

Households can save up to Rs 15,000-18,000 annually through the free solar electricity, and will also have the option to sell back the surplus to energy distribution companies. Rooftop solarisation will also aid charging for electric vehicles while providing entrepreneurship opportunities to vendors involved in the supply and installation of the panels, and employment to workers skilled in manufacturing, installation and maintenance.

“The rooftop solarisation program will take the solar energy program to the grassroots level and will lead to substantial savings for households," observed SN Goel, Chairman & Managing Director, Indian Energy Exchange

Expansion of charging infrastructure, which has been a pain point for electric vehicles will make them more enticing to prospective buyers. Additionally, a payment security mechanism, which is a fund that provides interest-free capital in case of default in payments, for e-buses will be introduced to encourage adoption and electrify public transportation.

“The announcement to promote e-buses is a progressive move towards electrifying the heavy vehicle segment. It shows the government’s efforts towards encouraging wider adoption of EVs and fostering sustainable public transportation,” said Chetan Maini, co-founder and chairman of battery swapping firm SUN Mobility.

Moving towards its goal of net zero emissions by 2070 the government announced viability gap funding for harnessing offshore wind power to the tune of 1GW. The government’s target is to achieve 10 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030.

This will be in addition to a target of setting up 100 metric tonnes of coal gasification and liquefaction capacity by the end of the decade, which could aid in the reduction of natural gas, methanol, and ammonia imports.

The Centre will also mandate using piped natural gas for domestic purposes, along with phased mandatory blending of compressed biogas (CBG) in compressed natural gas (CNG) for transport.

“The budget has a strong focus towards decentralised opportunities such as solar rooftop, EV charging, which is aimed to create a step change in the sector with a strong underlying theme of inclusion of households, SMEs, and youth in the energy transition opportunities,” noted Anvesha Thakker, Partner Business Consulting and National Industry Lead - Clean Energy for KPMG in India.