Power for the People: Early Lessons from Utility-scale Solar Power Development in India

摘要

In 2010, the Government of India announced the Jawaharal Nehru National Solar Mission (NSM), an ambitious program aimed at rapidly increasing India's solar energy utilization. The NSM's main goals are to commission 20 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale grid-connected capacity by the year 2022 and create an indigenous concentrating solar power (CSP) industry and supply chain. In less than four years, the mission has already made significant steps towards achieving its goal, raising capacity from 30 megawatts (MW) to over 2,600 MW. Based in part on this initial success, a recent World Bank report argues that India is well poised to be a global leader in solar energy. The NSM serves as an important example of large-scale commercial renewable energy (RE) development supporting a broader goal of inclusive economic development. This paper will discuss the NSM, describing the national development context, policy approaches and business models, and technology development. The paper will also summarize the progress of major projects, and discuss future challenges to the solar mission.