Government working for Rs. 1.2 lakh crore scheme to develop solar power in India NEW DELHI: The government is working on a Rs 1.2 lakh crore scheme to set up 20,000 MW solar power projects, or a fifth of the total solar power capacity envisaged by 2021-22, through qualified unemployed or under-employed youth in the next five years. Government sources told TOI the scheme is part of the governments design to ramp up solar power capacity to 100,000 mw by 2021-22. The Centre is to extend an assistance of Rs 16,050 crore to help keep power tariff from solar plants set up under this scheme affordable for state utilities. Those who have a B.Tech, MBA or M.Com degree, are not older than 35 years, but either do not have a job or are under-employed, would be eligible for getting a project under the scheme. They can apply for a project either on their own or in partnership with companies and societies. This is how the scheme is supposed to function. State governments willing to join the scheme approach the renewable energy ministry outlining how much capacity is left in their grid for handling solar power. The spare capacity is to be identified at the level of sub-stations, or points that would receive power from the solar plants. The projects are then allocated on the basis of spare capacity or demand indicated by each state. The states then invite application from eligible developers, with first priority to unemployed youth. Village panchayats or municipal bodies get the next preference. In case any leftover capacity is to be allotted to independent power producers, unemployed youth must hold more than 26% but less than 51% equity in such a company or organization. The unemployed youth would get to share revenue earned from the solar project in proportion to their holding in the company or organization. Each solar project is to be dedicated to a sub-station. The spare capacity identified in each sub-station would decide the size of its solar power project. The state utilities would notify the tariff, factoring in the central assistance, and give each solar plant a 25-year PPA (power purchase agreement) to ensure project viability. Solar Energy Corporation of India under the renewable energy ministry would act as the nodal agency, as in case of projects to set up mega solar power projects, for handling the funds and to provide any assistance. The entity would get a fees for this work, which would be 1% of the funds handled. Key Findings 1. Solar energy creates employment opportunities in India. Based on our initial primary research, we estimated that the solar market generated 23,884 cumulative jobs in the solar industry from 2011 to 2014 (solely from commissioned projects currently producing electricity). The construction and commissioning phase generates the most employment for a PV project. 2. India’s policy framework has led to increased solar deployment, creating jobs and increasing energy access. Smaller projects up to 5 MW in size may provide the most employment opportunities per MW. Targeted policies and clearer objectives may be more effective to accomplish diverse goals—solar deployment, job creation domestic solar manufacturing & human resource development. 3. Companies need to support the solar market by providing their projects’ job creation numbers. By tracking and reporting solar energy jobs numbers, business and policy makers can formulate better policies and programs and demonstrate the importance of renewable energy to the local economy. Our research and analysis confirm that solar energy projects create many local jobs in India—both one-time jobs during the pre-commissioning construction phase and permanent operations and maintenance positions over the multi-decade life of the solar plant. Supporting the growth of the solar industry and the reporting of jobs numbers by local businesses can continue this promising trend. A robust solar market is instrumental in creating jobs in India’s developing economy in addition to providing renewable energy and increasing energy access. I. Executive Summary Solar Power Jobs In 2010, the Indian central government launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (NSM) to strive to make India a global leader in the solar energy market. The mission had multiple aims, including Business development includes all actions taken to develop a specific project prior to submission of a possible bid (if the project is selected through a government policy scheme), as well as ongoing efforts to promote business. Direct employment generated includes jobs in sales, marketing, legal, financial, and government/regulatory affairs. Design and pre-construction entails design of the project once a bid has been won. Direct employment created includes jobs for designers, planners, architects, engineers (non-installers), resource analysts, legal personnel, and finance staff. Construction and commissioning consists of the actual installation of the project and setting up a connection to the national power grid. Direct jobs are created for construction workers, electricians, technicians, engineers, meteorologists, and technicians working for equipment vendors (such as inverter suppliers). Both skilled and unskilled workers are required during this phase of execution. Operations and maintenance creates direct jobs for technicians, electricians, maintenance and security staff, and operations managers. Both skilled and unskilled workers are required to carry out O&M in the plant. A number of studies have attempted to quantify the total number of jobs created by the solar PV industry globally. Due to differences in methodology, a wide variety of estimates have been reported. One recent aggregate estimate by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) suggests that global direct and indirect PV jobs surpassed 900,000 in 2011 and 1.36 million in 2012.20 The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reports that in countries that lead in INITIAL SOLAR EMPLOYMENT ANALYSIS IN INDIA Global estimates show that the solar PV market can create employment opportunities in India. The central government has cited employment generation as part of its rationale in launching the NSM, recognizing the “vast potential” for employment generation in the Indian renewable energy market. The NSM mission document, drafted in 2010, estimates that the solar industry will employ a minimum of 100,000 people (including engineers, managers, and researchers) by the end of 2022.22 The 2010 MNRE– Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) report estimates that the PV grid-connected sector will employ 152,000 people by 2020, assuming the NSM meets all targets.23 The report is enthusiastic about this prediction, noting that solar will “meet the social objective of creating new job opportunities.”24 Interestingly, there is a conspicuous lack of published analyses that estimate the employment generated by the Indian solar PV market thus far. The central government does not mandate the reporting of job-creation numbers, and unlike developers in many other countries, those in India do not report these numbers voluntarily. Conversely, in countries like the United States, jobs data is robustly reported voluntarily by companies—often becoming the top line message in press releases accompanying newly announced clean energy projects. Decision makers are more likely to strongly support future renewable energy policies because they can point to the increased employment opportunities as a strong reason for endorsement. Estimating employment generated in the Indian solar market thus far The analysis presented above can be used to identify patterns in FTE required per MW, total work days required, and jobs created for projects of various capacities. The analysis does not necessarily reveal a linear relation between employment generating potential and project capacities. Nonetheless, we have used this analysis to estimate the number of jobs that have been created in the Indian solar industry. Employment generated during project implementation (all stages before projects are commissioned) depends on annual installations, while employment generated during O&M depends on cumulative installations. The median FTE per MW generated during project implementation across project sizes is 7.60 FTE and the median FTE per MW generated during operations is 1.53 FTE. KEY FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 1. Solar deployment creates employment opportunities in India. New solar projects must be designed, constructed, connected to the grid, and maintained, and the majority of these tasks must be undertaken locally. The analysis shows that increasing the installed capacity base of solar PV power generation in the country creates long term employment in the country. Continuous and sustained addition to existing installed capacity increases short term employment as well. 2. Projects of 1 to 5 MW capacity have the greatest employment generating potential. Our analysis shows that the highest number of FTE jobs per MW is generated by projects with a capacity of 1 to 5 MW. Increases in project size reduce the human resources required per MW to execute a project. To continue higher potential job creation rates, national policy on solar should continue to focus on smaller-size projects, as it has in the past phases of the NSM. The flip side to this argument concerns the economies of scale that a developer may experience by investing in a project with relatively larger capacities. Viability, and hence the cost of financing a project, depend significantly on the per-unit cost of power produced, which may be optimized at greater scale. There is a need, therefore, to find the optimum average capacity for projects to maximize employment generation potential while being mindful of project feasibility and benefits that could accrue from economies of scale. 3. Construction and commissioning generate the most employment for a PV project. The analysis shows that construction and commissioning generate most employment during the entire life cycle of a project. Although many tout the employment benefits of solar manufacturing, experts have expressed skepticism about the extent to which increased manufacturing capacity creates sustained employment benefits. 4 They argue that manufacturing is increasingly automated, so employment in the manufacturing sector is actually decreasing, not increasing. Also, India’s domestic manufacturing capacity has increased only marginally since 2010, so any job growth associated with increased capacity is likely to also be marginal. Link: nrdc.org/…/renewable-energy-solar-jobs-report.pdf Link: timesofindia.indiatimes/…/articlesh…/45960621.cms Link: indiainfoline/…/government-working-for-rs-1-… Contact: +91-8192000211; 81920000210 E-mail: paawanenergy@gmail Corporate Office: GCF 07, Aditya Gold crest tower, Vaibhav khand, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, U.P-2010009 INDIA
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 09:24:18 +0000
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