Conversation Highlights:
- Our key focus has been how to realize this potential by making people a part of this renewable energy journey that the state has embarked upon so that the challenge of being a land scarce state can be overcome.
- The scheme is being implemented in a way that it benefits small and marginal farmers without any financial contribution from farmers.
Kindly elaborate on your journey as CEO of ANERT and what have been your key focus areas?
As CEO of ANERT the journey has been quite satisfying so far. Since, the government is also giving a big push to Renewable Energy and aiming at 3000 MW in next 3 years, my role as CEO of State Nodal Agency in renewable energy has been like a roller coaster ride especially coming as a no novice in the power sector.
Our key focus has been how to realize this potential by making people a part of this renewable energy journey that the state has embarked upon so that the challenge of being a land scarce state can be overcome.
Presently all the states of India are working towards achieving their specific Net Zero Targets. What strategies are planned by the Kerala Government?
Kerala might be one of the few States which had set itself an ambitious target of becoming Carbon Neutral by 2050, two decades ahead of the national target. In fact as per few studies, Kerala is already Carbon Neutral if we don’t take into account 70% of the power needs we import from coal-fired plants.
Having set this target, Kerala is giving great push to renewable energy and E-Vehicle and has set an ambitious target of 3000MW in the next 4 years and 1 million vehicles by 2030.
Kindly elaborate how ANERT is progressively working on the PM KUSUM PROJECT and how this will change the entire outlook of REdevelopment in Kerala?
As discussed, decentralized way of installations is most suitable for the state and hence this is great push for Rooftop solar installations and Component-C i.e. Individual pump solarization under PM KUSUM.
Having done around 50 on pilot basis following observations:
Majority of implementation is in the paddy fields/ various terrain and hence structure suitable are ground mounted. Since the sites are paddy fields/different terrains, the ground is not as hard as usual, which attracts heavy piling and foundation work. This will increase the cost per system.
The plant is accompanied by a remote monitoring system for monitoring the performance of the plant, water usage, etc. This ensures the farmer to have better generation and finally more profit from the plant. RMS costing is around Rs.5,000-10,000/unit.
The labor cost in Kerala is higher compared to other states, and this commonly ranges from Rs. 1000 to Rs. 1500 per day. If a special skill set is required, the above cost will also hike.
In Kerala, most of the grid interconnection points are situated in farms, and as per the tender, we are proposing 15 meters of AC cabling. In most cases, the shade-free area for panel installation is not available within this range, which causes higher cable length. This will cause higher cable costs compared to a roof-top system.
As Kerala experiences heavy monsoons and most of the systems are ground-mounted and placed in open spaces, the protection devices and junction boxes need to withstand heavy rains. In order to procure such quality components, the rates are higher than those being used in rooftop structures.
Most of the sites require UG cabling, as long overhead lines (OHL) are not suitable for carrying heavy loads in practical situations. The UG cabling and their cable laying practices will attract additional costs other than rooftop structures.
The implementation under PM KUSUM Component C is full of unseen challenges unlike the grid-connected rooftop project which is more or less standardized.
The cost of 2kW system is around ₹ 1,82,048, the available energy for export per year will be 2,250 units and annual income from export will be Rs.7,245/- at current APCC price in Kerala which is Rs.3.22/unit. Hence it will take more than 25 years for the beneficiary to have a return of investment.
Roof top projects are implemented by the consumers who are reasonably financial sound to reduce their electricity bill. They are only using their rooftop which is having minimum use in reality. But in PM KUSUM Project, already financially distressed farmers are the beneficiary and also they need to provide land for minimum 25 years for the implementation as most of the implementations are ground mounted.In view of this we are trying to implement the scheme without burden to the farmers by availing loan from NABARD-RIDF. The scheme is being implemented in a way that it benefits small and marginal farmers without any financial contribution from farmers. The repayment is done through generation benefits of the plants with a minimum period of 7-10 years and after that complete generation income will be enjoyed by the farmers, as the plant will be handed over to them.
What are the present challenges that are faced by ANERT in the speedy implementation of the Green Energy Strategies?
The main challenge is Capital and workforce experienced in renewable energy. Skilled manpower for qualify installations, that too in large scale decentralized way will be big challenge as the Solar PV installation require a different skill set.
