MNRE Revises National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has revised its National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy to state that the renewable purchase obligation (RPO) contribution of obligated entities that consume energy from hybrid wind-solar sources must be relatively proportional to the power contributed by each source.

The calculation will be based on the declared capacities of each source in the power purchase agreement (PPA), according to the MNRE. Also, the calculation will be based on the actual ratios of each source’s installed capacity instead of the capacity indicated in the PPA, if the actual installed capacity of each source is different from what was declared in the PPA during the implementation of the new regulation.

Both the solar and wind power segments have evolved over the years and are well established in the country. However, growth in the segments has plateaued in the past one year on account of policy issues, and land and transmission constraints. A combination of the two technologies, that is, wind-solar hybrid, can help address some of these critical challenges.

The co-location of solar PV and wind leads to significant synergies in land, evacuation infrastructure and project costs. To develop this technology and scale up its deployment, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy issued the National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy in 2018, envisaging an installed capacity target of 10 GW by 2022.