The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has proposed bundling renewable energy and thermal power. The government has released a draft paper to achieve a medium of availability, cost and renewable energy (RE).
RE includes solar, wind, small hydro or a combination, with or without energy storage system. The capacity additions in RE makes a case for reverse bundling wherein high cost thermal power is allowed to be bundled with cheaper renewable energy, and is provided round-the-clock to the discom.
The higher cost of thermal power is attributed to rise in the cost of coal imports and no significant capacity addition. Approximately, 70 percent of India’s power requirements are coal-based. Additionally, for the discom, this can also bring down power-buying costs.
At present, the cost of renewable power is anywhere in the range of Rs 2.60 to Rs 2.80 for solar. In comparison, generation cost of coal is approximately Rs 4.6 per unit. The draft also pointed out that discoms will not have to integrate RE power into the grid since the responsibility of giving firm power will be with the power generator.
The draft has called on power generators to supply 51 percent power annually from RE power and the remaining from thermal power. In the past, such provisions were not there and now the government is looking to change it with increased RE capacity.
The draft also states that the power generator can combine storage for ensuring that it achieves the required minimum annual availability of 80 percent.
