The government of India has approved the second phase of the scheme to set up grid-connected rooftop solar power projects with a central financial support of Rs 11,814 crore to be spent over four years, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said in an order issued last week.
The scheme, which aims at achieving total rooftop solar power generation capacity of 40,000 megawatt (MW) by 2022, has two components. The first component involves setting up 4,000 MW grid-connected rooftop solar plants in the residential sector with central financial assistance.
The second component involves incentives to discoms based on achievement for installing additional grid-connected rooftop capacity in all sectors over and above the base level, with the incentives being limited to the first additional 18,000 MW of rooftop capacity added.
The government plans to add 38,000 MW of capacity under the second phase with a total central financial assistance of an estimated Rs 6,600 crore for achieving 4,000 MW capacity for residential sector.
The additional financial outlay for providing incentives to discoms stand at Rs 4,950 crore, apart from Rs 66 crore for capacity building and Rs 198 crore for service charges. “The detailed operational guidelines for implementation of the scheme will be issued separately,” the ministry said in the order.
The government is working on a target to achieve 175 gigawatt (GW) of renewable energy generation capacity by 2022. That includes 100 GW of solar, 60 GW of wind, 1 GW of biomass-based plants, and 5 GW fo small hydro. The solar power capacity target includes 40 GW of rooftop solar projects.
