5000 MW solar power for Gujarat

The Clinton Foundation proposes to generate about 5,000 megawatt of power is way larger than India's biggest power project of 3,260MW in Vindyachal. The biggest solar power plant planned so far is a 160MW project in Portugal.

Gujarat has decided to allocate 1,500 hectares of land in the desert and a small stretch in Santalpur in Bankaskantha district. The Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation will create infrastructure for the ambitious `Solar Park'.

Companies are queueing up for setting up plants largely due to the incentives offered in the state’s new Solar Power Policy, including exemption from electricity duty and demand cut of 50% of the installed capacity. Units that start production before December 31, 2010, can avail these concessions.

Also thrown in is a guarantee to buy power for 12 years at its production cost Rs 13 per unit for photovoltaic projects and Rs 10 per unit for thermal projects. Apart from Kutch, the Clinton Foundation is also exploring the international borders in Banaskantha and Patan districts. A joint study conducted by the foundation and Tata Energy Research Institute shows that Kutch offers the best solar radiation.

With the potential of solar energy in India, it cannot afford to ignore this technology. Incentives like the above will get more players into the arena while the buyback at production cost makes solar power attractive.

The other important aspect is that of climate change. While placing the onus of responsibility, India cannot expect to get away with zero liability for current emissions beyond 2012. It would be good to take a pointer from China, which is working to reduce emissions through a strategic relationship with the US. Encouraging renewable energy through substantial incentives is one way to achieve this.

Despite global recession and for the tenth straight year CO2 emissions keep rising. Global carbon dioxide emissions in 2008 rose 1.94 percent year-on-year to 31.5 billion metric tons, according to a Reuters report. The German renewable energy industry institute which research also has a solution: Stop trying to curb industrial activity and instead tie renewable energy investment to CO2 emissions.

IWR said that "Kyoto is not working out" -- rather than falling, emissions have climbed some 40% based on 1990 levels -- but that trying to persuade countries to slow industrial activity will only result in bickering and hostility. Instead investment in renewable energy needs to be tied to the amount of emissions a country is producing -- nations with higher CO2 emissions having to make greater investments in renewable energy.

IWR recommended that the $170.3 billion invested in renewable energy in 2008 will have to be increased to about $710 billion per year to prevent catastrophic climate change.