Guwahati: Assam is blessed with significantly higher renewable energy (RE) generation potential than previously assessed by central government agencies, says a report released by The International Forum for Environment, Sustainability, and Technology (iFOREST), a prominent environmental research think tank.
The research reports titled ”Assam Renewable Energy Potential Reassessment: Focus of Solar, Wind and Biomass”, ”Enabling Renewable Energy Growth in Assam” and ”Impact of ISTS Waiver on Economics of Solar Power Procurement in Assam” released today showed that the reassessed RE potential is adequate to support a low-carbon pathway to meet the state’s growing electricity demand. “While an increased commitment to RE projects is already visible in the state, there are limitations to growth that need to be addressed through policy tightening and institutional capacity building,” the reports said.
The reports were released here on Wednesday at a multi-stakeholder dialogue organised by iFOREST.
“Our assessment shows that Assam requires nearly 3,000 MW of RE capacity by 2026-27 and 5,000 MW by 2031-32, given the projected electricity demand growth and Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO requirement. There is a clear case for RE capacity expansion within the state to ensure energy security and to lay the foundation for developing a green economy. The state policy targets must be aligned with the new requirements,” stated Ms Mandvi Singh, Programme Director, Clean Energy and Climate Change Programme at iFOREST, while sharing the research findings. The momentum towards RE capacity addition in the state must be accelerated further.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Smt. Laya Madduri, Secretary, Department of Science, Technology and Climate Change said in response to the mounting Assam has been steadily and consciously working towards climate change adaptation and mitigation.
“The state is fully committed to developing a low-carbon growth pathway for meeting the expanding energy demand,” she said.
Though Assam is one of India’s most vulnerable states to climate change, the state has a substantial carbon footprint, owing to its significant dependence on fossil fuels to meet the growing energy demand. The state government is responding to the requirement, with about 1,200 MW of RE capacity planned to be added under the Assam Renewable Energy Policy 2022-27 and another 1,000 MW under the Mukhya Mantri Souro Shakti Prokolpo initiative.
Since the announcement of the new policy, there has been substantial momentum in the large-RE segment driven by state intervention, with nearly 2,000 MW of solar capacity in the pipeline.
Elaborating on the progress made so far, Shri Bibhu Bhuyan, Managing Director, Assam Power Generation Corporation Limited (APGCL) said the state generation utility is fully committed to a green growth pathway. “While the majority of our installations are gas-based, our plan is to expand our generation capacity to 2,000 MW by 2030, of which 92% will be through renewable energy sources,” he said.
While the progress is commendable, iFOREST studies point to new and enhanced imperatives to RE capacity growth for Assam, calling for increasing ambitions. The state’s electricity demand has steadily grown and is projected to double by 2030. Meanwhile, the central government’s RE procurement mandates through updated renewable energy obligations (RPOs) require more than 43% of the state’s total consumption to be sourced from RE sources by 2030.
Currently, the official assessment of Assam’s RE potential by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) is estimated at 14.4 GW. This includes 13.76 GW of solar, 246 MW of wind, 212 MW of biomass, 201 MW of small hydro, and 8 MW of waste-to-energy.
However, iFOREST’s reassessment study based on updated satellite data and assumptions indicates that the state can add 27,748 MW of solar ground-mounted capacity, 883 MW of floating solar capacity, and 1,621 MW of solar rooftop capacity. The theoretical potential has been estimated considering the state’s geographical limitations regarding high vulnerability to floods, landslides, and hilling terrain.
To fully utilise the state’s potential and stimulate RE investments, there is a need to address persistent structural challenges limiting sector growth. While Assam Renewable Energy Policy 2022( AREP) was a timely step taken by the state government to boost RE investments and decarbonise the state’s electricity sector, RE investments continue to be driven solely by state and central government PSUs and remain focused on only large solar projects. The progress in distributed solar and non-solar segments remains muted, while the private sector investment interest remains eluded.
In this context, the iFOREST study recommends that while AREP 2022 provides the broad framework for RE growth in the state, technology-specific detailed policies/guidance should be provided for crucial focus segments such as water resource-based RE projects, urban and rural DRE, and biomass. Incentives under the policy should also be aligned to cover the generation tariff differential with large RE states and the prevailing interstate transmission system (ISTS) waiver.
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