Bengaluru, Karnataka
The
final workshop to discuss the policy implications of the Clean
Energy Technology Action Plan for Karnataka was held in Bengaluru
on 15 February 2010. Inaugurating the workshop, K Jairaj,
Additional Chief Secretary (Energy), Govt. of Karnataka, said that
the three main focus areas for achieving sustainability are energy
security, energy efficiency and sustainable energy. He opined that
energy conservation could be achieved by reducing transmission and
distribution losses, and said that the state has been successful
in this regard, bringing down energy wastage considerably over the
past few years. Mr.Jairaj said that there is an
urgent need to develop RE in Karnataka, taking the installed
capacity from 2400 MW to 6600 MW by 2014. He hoped that the state
could achieve this target as envisaged in the Karnataka RE Policy
2009.
G M Pillai, Founder Director General, WISE, in his introductory
speech said that climate change and energy security should be
handled in a holistic manner. Lauding the state for bringing out a
renewable energy policy, Mr Pillai said that the state could soon
find its place on top of the country’s ‘green’ map for being the
first state to have both a ‘Clean Energy Technology Action Plan
for Climate Mitigation’ and an RE policy. According to Mr Pillai,
the Action Plan prepared by WISE could complement the policy,
which when implemented, could lead to the creation of over 10 lakh
new jobs in the state in the next few decades.
Jaipur, Rajasthan
The
Chief Guest for the inaugural session of the final workshop held
in Jaipur on 18 March 2010 was D C Samant, Chairman, Rajasthan
Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC). The Chairperson of the
session was Ajai Vikram Singh, Former Secretary, Ministries of New
and Renewable Energy and Defence. In his address, Mr Samant
highlighted the status and key challenges faced by the RE sector
in Rajasthan. He said that focused attention needs to be provided
to the sector as the state is highly vulnerable to climate change.
In his welcome address, G M Pillai, Founder Director General,
WISE, said that Rajasthan has the capability of becoming the
powerhouse of North India as it has tremendous potential for
developing RE in the state. In fact, he added that the state has
the potential to produce renewable energy in the range of 50,000
MW–5,00,000 MW, generating about 1 lakh jobs for 50,000 MW of
renewable energy. This could tremendously increase revenue
generation in the state. He emphasised that key departments in the
state including the state nodal agency, energy and transport
departments, etc., need to undergo capacity building in order to
make the action plan totally implementable.
Mumbai, Maharashtra
The
final policy and capacity building workshop for the state of
Maharashtra was held in Mumbai on 9 April 2010. The Chief Guest at
the inaugural session was Anand Limaye, Director General,
Maharashtra Energy Development Agency (MEDA). Complimenting WISE
for preparing the action plan for climate mitigation for the state
of Maharashtra, Mr Limaye hoped that the document would serve as a
code of conduct for the clean energy sector in the state.
Mr Limaye said that Maharashtra is initiating several measures to
promote RE, and is formulating an RE policy which aims to double
renewable capacity from the existing 2500 MW by 2015. The state
government also aims to provide decentralised renewable power to
off-grid areas, explore potential of geothermal and wave power,
implement energy conservation measures such as mandating the use
of solar water heaters, promoting green building practices, etc.
Welcoming the participants, G M Pillai said that with coal
becoming scarce, it would be difficult to sustain coal-based
projects in the long run. On the other hand, clean energy is
growing at the rate of 30%–40% every year, leaving even the IT
sector behind. Mr Pillai opined that a host of initiatives
announced by the government such as the National Action Plan for
Climate Change (incorporating eight missions including the
ambitious National Solar Mission), the setting up of a Clean
Energy Fund, and the Finance Commission’s announcement of a
Rs.5000 crore incentivisation scheme to promote clean energy in
the states would definitely propel the sector forward.
The final action plans have been submitted to the respective state
governments for approval.
