By Sudarshan Varadhan
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -India’s stranded renewable power capacity – projects awarded but unable to come online – more than doubled over nine months, due to unfinished transmission lines, and legal and regulatory delays, letters from an industry group to the government showed.
The South Asian nation aims to more than double its non-fossil fuel power capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030, but the acceleration has left projects without firm agreements to supply power.
Renewable projects that won tenders to generate power but are yet to sign power purchase agreements with buyers have surged to over 50 gigawatts, India’s Sustainable Projects Developers Association said in a letter to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy on June 27.
That compared with stranded projects of over 20 GW, another letter sent by the SPDA on October 4 showed. Both letters were reviewed by Reuters.
Tendered projects cumulatively worth billions of dollars awarded to companies including JSW, NTPC, Adani Green, ACME Solar, Renew and Sembcorp are stranded, two industry officials familiar with the matter said.
“Energy transition is not just about building solar and wind capacity, it is also about ensuring that clean power reaches in a most optimum cost and timely manner,” the SPDA said in its June 27 letter to the renewable energy ministry.
The stranded solar and wind capacity without buyers of over 50 GW reported by the SPDA is about a quarter the size of India’s current installed renewable capacity of 184.6 GW.
The companies did not respond to Reuters requests seeking comment.
A spokesperson for India’s power ministry told Reuters on Saturday renewable projects of about 44 GW had been awarded generation licences by federal agencies – which account for most tenders – but did not have supply agreements.
He did not elaborate on the scale of the increase in stranded projects, the duration of delay or companies affected.
Delays in critical transmission infrastructure – especially in sun-drenched states such as Rajasthan and Gujarat – have forced many solar plants to miss commissioning deadlines, the SPDA said in the June letter.
Interstate transmission lines connecting renewable energy projects to the grid are being fast-tracked, and compensation for landowners allowing power cables on their property has been increased to facilitate construction, the ministry spokesperson said.
India plans to connect 230 GW of renewable energy projects to the grid through interstate transmission lines, of which 20% have been completed, 70% are under construction and the remainder is being bid out, he said, without specifying a timeline for completion.
Renewable projects are also stuck due to prolonged legal disputes over land and environmental permissions, SPDA said, adding that several developers have paused operations over unresolved court cases.
(Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Frances Kerry, Louise Heavens and Alison Williams)
