Webinar: Haryana Draft Solar Policy 2021 & Guidelines for Development of Solar Parks by Private Entrepreneurs
EQ organized a webinar on ‘Haryana Draft Solar Policy 2021 & Guidelines for Development of Solar Parks by Private Entrepreneurs’ on June 8, 2021.
Rameshwar Birthal, Project Officer-Department of New & Renewable Energy, Haryana (HAREDA) and Dr AK Jain, Vice Chairman IDANZ, Director INA, were the keynote speakers.
Dr AK Jain is the Former MD- REIL and Former Convenor Standards Committee – EV Charging Infrastructure. Arun Bharti, General Manager, Business development, Vibgyor Energy, participated as the moderator.
The other speakers included Ajay Mishra, General Manager Marketing, Waaree Energies Ltd; Shashank Sharma, Founder and CEO, Sunsure Energy Pvt. Ltd; Alok Singh, Business Development, Fourth Partner Energy; Tushar Sharma, Manager-Energy Policy,- CEO’s office, National Solar Energy Federation of India; Prabjot Singh Bhullar, Legal Counsel-L&L; Kaustubh Kulkarni, Deputy General Manager Sales-Climate Change-EnKing International; Hiten G. Parekh, Chief Business Officer-SolarSquare Energy Private Limited; and Mudit Jain, Head – Research-Tata Cleantech Capital Limited.
Dr AK Jain said that Haryana is an Agri-based economy, and they have many water bodies and canals. He discussed his views on the topic in detail.
“Until and unless, the solar community which is not Haryana based that is doing wonders in every state, they have a dialogue with the farmer’s community and come out with a successful business model that will create a path somewhere near the farmland or industries. Haryana is pretty good in the industry.
He said that if the farmers’ community is made an integral part of this opportunity, there will be ample growth in the solar sector.
The government should invite and take part along with the industry players as well as take suggestions openly regarding what needs to be done and how. He discussed few reasons why the solar business did not happen in Haryana though it is close to Delhi, Rajasthan and Punjab.
Rameshwar Birthal, Project Officer-Department of New & Renewable Energy, Haryana (HAREDA), presented his views on how it is different from older policy and how they have taken care of the stakeholders. “Previously, there was no mention of the third-party share, but in this policy, we also included the provision of third-party sharing of the solar power.
In the previous policy regarding solar parks, there is only one crore to be set up by the government agencies, but we are now allowing to set up the solar park by private entities. All the benefits as applicable under the industrial policy apply to solar power projects and RE projects also.”
“HAREDA has been nominated as state nodal agency for creating the infrastructure for EV charging solutions. So, Haryana is taking the first step in this regard. We have set up one heavy fast charger, the first of its kind in Haryana, at our office.
We are planning to install EV charging stations along the highways and big cities in the first case. For which, we are waiting for the EV Policy of the state notified by the transport department.”
Shashank Sharma, Founder and CEO, Sunsure Energy Pvt. Ltd shared his insight on the topic. He said, “The beauty of the policy lies in its implementation.
What we have seen in Haryana, we have been tracking Haryana Solar Policy 2016. The policy made by HAREDA was a fabulous document. The policy had incentives for the developer. It was a magnet for the industries as well as developers to come and work in Haryana.”
About 4GW of projects of developers had come to Haryana to set up these projects. Many of them applied for connectivity, got registered with HAREDA, about 400 MW got final connectivity.
But the sad part here when it comes to implementation is that only 80-90 MW has been installed so far. And 75 per cent of whatever has been installed, is under litigation at various levels.
We have to understand the fact that whatever HAREDA had created was for the good of the solar developer, and we can see what happened to Haryana, but the DISCOMs were not taken on board.
The original policy amended multiple times, and it became confusing as to what applies in the state and what does not. This was not a good environment for the development of the projects.”
The new policy brings out many new things- virtual net metering, community net metering and more. These are good dreams to have while we are struggling just for basic net metering.
It is hard to believe that we will have community net metering sometime. It is a known fact that DISCOMs, regulatory commissions and other stakeholders are kind of against net metering.
As far as the policy goes currently, there is no incentive for anyone to invest in Haryana under the open-access scheme. That is not because of what HAREDA did or not entirely the policy, but the mindset of the ecosystem.
Even in the previous policy, HAREDA did its best to support developers and to put up projects,” said Shashank Sharma.
He further discussed other related challenges.Alok Singh, Business Development, Fourth Partner Energy, spoke on the policy, discussed ground realities and related challenges. He shared a couple of good things covered by the policy.
“The aim of the policy is 1600 MW of capacity till 2025. They are introducing a single-window that will give the approvals within 60 days. This will drastically reduce the documentation time of the developers.
Here is an opportunity for people of the villages. There are now facilitating the land lease or the panchayat lease land so villagers will have the opportunity to monetize their unused land not used for farming purposes.
This policy focuses more on the ground projects with storage, which boosts green power and a sustainable form of energy. In this way, we are helping the trading firms operating in the state of Haryana. The tax reduction of 10 per cent, which the policy states for the manufacturing of solar equipment.
Hiten G. Parekh, Chief Business Officer, SolarSquare Energy Private Limited, shared his views. He said, “Looking at the expensive land parcels in the state, the richness of agriculture and listening to the other fellow experts regarding the extremely high cost of banking, transmission and other chargers), I think it is simply unfeasible and unviable to make any large investment and for any corporate to reap the benefits of utilizing a large scale solar plant from a park or group captive.
My sincere request to the machinery is that at least if the residential, rooftop and small MSME solar can be accelerated adoption. And similar, single-window clearance approvals, issuance of meters and net metering policies can come up to speed, I believe the state might still be able to reach its ambition of 1600 MW by 2025.
Arun Bharti said, “I think, this policy has covered all residential, community and EVs and other aspects which were not available in the previous policy.”
Ajay Mishra, General Manager Marketing, Waaree Energies Ltd, presented his overall view on the policy. He said, “While being the largest solar power manufacturer in India, speaking in terms of Haryana, we have more than 35 franchises working in the state, and all of them are doing very well. Our partners have grown multi-fold. People have done business of more than 100 crores, in one year time during the pandemic.
The policy looks prima facie good, but the only hitch we as manufacturers face here is if there would have been a clearer mention about the Make in India modules to be used for these projects or at least the ALMM approved modules to be used for the same. Then, there would have been a great impetus for the manufacturer.”
Mudit Jain, Head – Research-Tata Cleantech Capital Limited, shared his insights. He said, “Idea is that, between the policy and the actual implementation, there is many a slip between the cup and the lips.
Regarding the confidence, at this point in time, I don’t foresee any more debt financing coming in until the previous instances are resolved.
The policy and its current stature are once again good. This time, it is taking care of the DISCOMs as well.”
Kaustubh Kulkarni, Deputy General Manager Sales-Climate Change-EnKing International, said, “We all know that we have been working PAN India.
I’d like to ensure from our side, being in the REC sector and the Renewable Energy Attribute Sector, we are committed to performing. We are helping out to generate an additional revenue stream for the projects.
We all know that the world is looking towards climate change. Renewable energy is a major component of climate change. So we see, sooner or later, the incentives being given to the project developers will be more exciting. We will be in a better position to help project developers and financer.
Prabjot Singh Bhullar, Legal Counsel-L&L shared some examples from his experience to highlight the challenges the structure can create.
He said, “When we are looking at the solar policy, I think you have to be very realistic.”
It is also very important to kind of guide if you are letting the private party drive the entire contractual framework himself.
Coming back to the solar policy, I must appreciate the effort of the state that they have come up with a forward-looking policy. There is always a difference between the vision document, the policy and the contractual framework.
I think we need to get closer to the market and the expectation of the players in the market. While the policy and guidelines are all good based documents, we need to bridge that gap which is keeping the investor away.
Tushar Sharma, Manager-Energy Policy,-CEO’s office, National Solar Energy Federation of India presented his views and suggestions on the policy.
He also discussed some elements missing from the policy. “Overall, the policy is really good. Some elements missing from the policy which could be covered especially for EV is that special incentives for EV charging with solar function should be allowed for one single plant and for multiple plants altogether without the transmission charges.
Ultimately, if we want EVs to be carbon neutral, we cannot ask them to purchase from coal. There should be a level playing field for both open-access and distributed solar project. There should be a special focus on the secondary market for solar projects.
In case of excess electricity generation, the power purchase could be at an average cost of the supply, which will be beneficial to all the developers. If we could have some policy changes with strong and regulated direction, it could prove effective. The policy should be stressed upon the accountability of the documents,” said Tushar Sharma.
Dr AK Jain said, “I think, today’s deliberations are an eye-opener and at the same time a big opportunity for the state that how they can go ahead on the integrated solar mission.
Connecting highways through EV infrastructure is a welcome step. The nodal agency has to critically think about how farmers can be a part of this entire integrated solar vision.
Until and unless they are not an integral part of this solar vision, things will probably be difficult. Second, whenever things come to your table, you should be crystal clear while taking up things with the seniors unless very much needed.
I know Haryana can do wonders because it is one state where at least financial challenges would not be there, and growth in the solar business has not taken place yet the way it has been there in other states.
The policy has touched each and every subject. Every point has been taken care of.” The webinar concluded with an interactive Q and A round.
