India to add 3,500 MW of renewable power during the current fiscal…

India will be adding about 3,500 MW of renewable power during the current fiscal. which would entail a capital investment of about 29,000 crore, Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah said on Thursday.

Spark sensed that a power generation capacity of around 3400 MW (grid-interactive) and 130 MW (off-grid / captive) from various renewable energy sources, mainly wind, solar, biomass and small hydro, will be added in the country during the current financial year 2011-12.

Considering the historical trends, half of the capital investment would be towards

wind energy, investments in solar power are expected to be about Rs 9,000 crore. Other renewable sources like small hydro power and bio-power would have investments of about Rs 3,000 crore and Rs 2,500 respectively.

Additional investment of about Rs. 1,000 cr. is envisaged in deployment of decentralized renewable energy systems/ devices like biogas plants, solar water heating systems and SPV lighting systems in remote villages/ hamlets.

These include Generation Based Incentives (GBI) Scheme for wind power and solar power to attract private investment by Independent Power Producers and incentives like capital subsidy and concession on excise duty. The government has also created a contingency fund for solar power projects if state utilities fail to make payments.