Renewable Energy
All Articles Dealing with Wind,Solar,Geothermal,Biomass,Tidal,Wave and other sources of Renewable Energy
December 4, 2010
The Trend of State Government Individual Companies Partnering in Renewable Energy Manufacturing to generate Green Jobs is increasing in the last year.Individual provincial governments in Canada,China and South Korea have recently signed deals with major Renewable Energy Companies to set up Manufacturing Plants in their respective provinces.The government gives various incentives such as land,tax breaks,assured markets,cheap loans in return for huge green investments from the companies.This gives a strong boost to the provinces which are fighting it out with other provinces for Green Dollars.While the process may not be exactly democratic and lead to an ideal selection,it does lead to faster implementation and guaranteed jobs in an increasingly tepid global economy.The latest province to join the bandwagon in a major way is Hebei province in China which has tied up with Chinese Wind Turbine Producer Ming Yang Power.Note other Chinese provinces have also tied up with Chinese Renewable Companies to increase Alternative Energy Investments in their regions.
December 3, 2010
Coal Prices have started to increase in the international market alongwith other commodities like wheat,sugar,corn,gold,copper etc.But unlike other commodities,Coal has a disproportionate effect on Energy Prices.Note Coal is the principal supplier of top energy consumers like China,USA,India,Germany etc.The cheap price and abundance of coal has made it the fossil fuel of choice for generating electricity.The Technology for mining,processing and using coal to generate energy is well developed and cheap.This is the main reason for Coal's growing use despite its reputation as the Dirtiest Form of Energy.Coal Mining also regularly leads to hundreds of deaths even in developed countries like USA and New Zealand.However Growing Carbon Emissions due to Coal and its Supply Shortages has resulted in looking for alternative forms.Clean Coal Technology and CCS are looked upon as means to try and improve the carbon footprint of Coal.However the CCS Technology remains immature and expensive as of now .
December 3, 2010
Renewable Energy has faced a very bad year in 2010 at least in terms of stock prices.The failure of the Copenhagen Climate Meet in 2009 and the complete indifference towards the Cancun Meet in Mexico has made the Green Energy Sector one of the worst performing ones.Wind Energy has been the worst hit with falling gas prices and falling subsidies with USA and Europe the worst hit.Other sectors like Solar Energy and Biofuels have not got much love from the markets either.In fact major financial insitutions have sharply reduced their Renewable Energy Holdings with Short Interest Rising to a Record High amongst Green Companies like American Semiconductor,Jinko Solar etc.However despite the ascendancy of the Republicans in USA and the cold shoulder given to climate and energy bill,this might mark a bottom for Renewable Energy
November 30, 2010
Nuclear Energy in India is going to quadruple in the next decade as India's power hungry economy requires increasing amounts of energy to sustain its growth.India's Electricity Capacity is targeted to reach 450 GW from around 160 GW at present which would require increasing the supply from all renewable energy sources as well as non-renewable sources.While Thermal Power will continue to remain the top dog with 60-70% of the capacity,Nuclear Power which forms just 3% of the current capacity is also poised to grow exponentially.India's Nuclear Power deal with USA have paved the way for India to again part of the civilian nuclear club which would allow import of uranium fuel and nuclear technology.It would also allow Nuclear Equipment Producers like Toshiba,Areva and GE to set up Nuclear Power Plants in India.Note India has a long history of a home grown indigenous nuclear power program with nuclear power capacity of around 4.5 GW.Despite facing low utilization in recent times due to inadequate supply of uranium fuel,the nuclear energy industry has continued its growth path.India is the only country spending large amounts in Thorium Fuel R&D as the country has huge deposits of the element.
November 30, 2010
The increasing amounts of Wind Energy and Solar Energy will require elements of a Smart Grid.China's electricty capacity is going to double in the next 5 years to around 1500 GW from 850-900 GW at present.This will require a huge increase in transmission capacity creating a huge market for electricity equipment giants like Siemens,ABB,Areva and Alstom.China also has the opputunity of creating a a Smart Grid as it builds Transmission Capacity form Scratch.Almost $100 Billion is going to be spent over the next 5 years attracting even IT firms like IBM and Cisco.IBM has already tied up with Chinese cities to roll out a pilot program.Note Smart Grid Technologies are still in their infancy.Chinese investment in Smart Grid will allow development of these technologies giving a huge boost to companies winning Smart Grid Projects in China.The Chinese Market despite its size is a highly competitive market with local companies competing mainly on price.Local companies that are benefiting from the Grid Investment are
November 29, 2010
China has the world's largest hydro power capacity at 200 GW and it plans to double the capacity by 2020.China is mostly dependent on Coal Power and Hydro Power to meet the electricity demand from its fast growing economy.China has the world's second largest electricity capacity at 850-900 GW second only to USA at ~1000 GW.This will be soon be overtaken as China continues to grow at 8-10% and its electricity per capita is still much below developed world standards.China is already the world's biggest consumer of Energy and emitter of Greenhouse Gases.Despite rapidly investing in Nuclear and Renewable Energy,China's voracious demand has made the growth of Fossil Fuel Energy unsustainable.It already consumes 3 Billion Tons of Coal per year and is already importing around 180 million tons per year.
November 29, 2010
Toshiba,the Japanese Conglomerate with diversified interests in Electronics,Nuclear Energy Equipment,NAND Memory is leading the Japanese Search for Rare Earth Minerals.Fears of Chinese monopoly over production of REE came true,when Exports to Japan were blocked over a shipping incident.EU and USA have long been concerned with the Chinese control of 95% of the global REE production with USA even thinking of taking China to the WTO.Japan has recently drastically increased its investment into finding new sources of Rare Earth with recent deals with Vietnam,India,Kazakhstan and others.Sojitz, a Trading Zaibatsu recently signed a long term supply deal with Lynas.Toshiba is the other Japanese firm actively scouting for Rare Earth Minerals looking for newer processes and geographies.
November 26, 2010
India has set up ambitious targets of meeting 15% of its Energy Needs from Renewable Sources up from around 5.5-6% in 2010.WIth India's Electricity Capacity expected to rise to 450 GW from around 165 GW,this would imply that around 67.5 GW of Electricity Capacity would be needed up from around 16 GW.This would mean around 5 GW of Capacity addition every year in the next decade which is a very tall order.20 GW could be met by Solar Energy according to the Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission (JNNSM).Most of the rest would have to met by Wind Energy.Biomass Energy has high costs and reliability problems which mini hydro potential is only 1 GW.Note this is just the capacity I am talking about,for meeting the electricity generation,capacity additions would have to be greater as Solar Energy and Wind Energy have only 20-30% Load Factor compared to 60-80% for Fossil Fuel Energy Sources.Nuclear Energy can contribute another 20 GW.
Renewable Energy in India is growing at a rapid pace increasing its share of the total capacity from 2% in 2003 to around 10% in 2010.However the share of electricity generation is still quite low at 3% due to the lower capacity load factors of Green Energy Sources compared to Fossil Fuel Sources.The Total Installed Capacity of Renewable Energy in India is around 16 GW with Wind Energy taking the Lion's share at almost 70% followed by Small Hydro at 15% and Biomass Energy at 12%.Solar Energy in India till now has a capacity of just 6 MW which is estimated to grow to 22 GW by 2022 making Solar Energy one of the Biggest Growth Opportunities in the Field of Indian Energy.
November 25, 2010
Asian Development Bank (ADB) has planned $2 Billion in Annual Green Investments in power hungry countries of Asia.For this the multilateral institution has sold multi-currency bonds in Japan to populate its Renewable Energy Fund.Note Green Energy is a capital intensive business and requires large amounts of low cost capital which is difficult to get in developing emerging markets of Asia.ADB is meeting this intermediary gap of funneling low interest capital from developed markets like Japan to capital deficient countries like India.Note ADB is already financing Asia's largest solar photovoltaic plant in Thailand.
November 18, 2010
Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Policy is starting in India tomorrow which will allow Green Energy Generators to earn additional tariff.Note the REC Mechanism is also present in different forms in Italy,USA and Australia and has proven a good incentive to promoter Renewable Energy in those countries.India's Electricity Regulator (CERC) has been actively implementing different orders to boost Green Energy Generation.CERC had earlier mandated a 6% Renewable Energy Percentage from Alternative Energy which would go upto 15% by 2020.The REC Policy will help in achieving those targets by providing a pseud market linked mechanism to inentivize Green Power Producers.
Who will Benefit
Renewable Energy Companies and Green Utilities are set to benefit the most from this Policy.Suzlon has already welcomed the policy saying that Financing will ease for Renewable Energy Projects.Orient Green Power,the largest Green Focused Utility will also be a big beneficiary.Local Indian Wind Turbine Companies should also benefit from the Scheme.It also provides companies outside the JNNSM to get decent returns from solar generation as the REC band for Solar REC has been set between Rs 12-17/Kwh.India need to increase Renewable Energy Capacity by at least 50 GW in the next 10 year to meet the 15% CERC Target
November 17, 2010
Giant Chinese Utilities Datang and Huaneng are doing roadshows for the IPOs of their Renewable Energy Arms which would raise more than Billion Dollars Each.Note Green Utilities have become a separate Green Investment Class with lots of Asian and European Utilities already doing an IPO of their Green Subsidiaries or are in the process of doing so.However 2010 has been a bad year for Green Energy Stocks and Green Utilities have been no different.While First Wind Holdings a pure play USA Wind Farm Developer failed to get listed despite lowering its Issue Price,Indian Orient Green Power and Italian Enel Green Power have performed miserably even after listing at a much lowered stock price.Despite the negative sentiment towards Green Utilities mainly due to the Headwinds being faced by Wind Industry in 2010,Green Utilities are one of the safest ways to invest in the Alternative Energy Sector given the nascent highly volatile nature of the industry.
November 13, 2010
Siemens has planned to increase its Environmental Revenues to Euro 40 Billions by 2014 which is quite a big jump considering the large base.GE is its biggest competitor which is also rapidly increasing investment and research into Renewable Energy.Areva,ABB,Samsung,LG,Hyundai,Toshiba,Sharp,Panasonic,Mitsubishi are other industrial giants looking to rapidly increase revenue from Clean Technology.Siemens has a definite technological and incumbent advantages however the competition is quite formidable.Siemens has made important wins recently in the field of high speed railways,new generation high voltage DC electricity transmission,offshore wind etc.But it lacks size and scale in the fields of nuclear and solar energy and has little presence in the area of Energy Storage as well.While Siemens has bought Soliel in the Solar Thermal field,it lacks a Solar PV product portfolio.Siemens however remains a good long term safe green investment in a volatile cleantech sector.
November 13, 2010
Solar Energy Future Growth has been vastly underestimated by policy makers and analysts but private companies are recognized the huge potential.India's JNNSM Policy which is meant to jumpstart India's Solar Energy has drawn huge interest from both domestic and foreign companies.The number of Solar Companies in India are growing at a rapid pace attracted by the huge opportunity.While starting troubles like project financing of debt etc are present,the long term growth potential of Solar Energy in India is tremendous.Global Industrial Giants like GE,Siemens have already established or in the process of investing huge sums of money to capitalize on this Green Trend.Now French Giant Areva has joined them.Note Areva is the global leader in nuclear equipment technology and is not known for its prowess in Solar and Wind Energy.However the company is making a play in Solar Thermal Technology where it hopes to use its existing skills and knowledge.Areva had acquired US startup Ausra which had fallen on hard times earlier.However Areva has not won too many Solar Thermal Projects in the recent past.However things may change starting with India
October 27, 2010
EGP is the 4th company of its kind to supply paper to European investors so the demand is not high.Despite EGP having 44% Hydro Assets and 13% Geothermal Assets which is more than its European competitors dependent on Wind Energy,investors are not convinced.Even the lower band of pricing has seen only 60% demand which means that EGP may have to lower it further.Spain and Italy the home countries of Enel are reducing Feed in Tariffs for Green Energy Sources due to Budgetary Problems.Despite removing the most draconian cuts on Renewable Subsidies,the sword of uncertainty continues to hang over the Green Producers.Investors are also looking for a discount on existing companies in order to make commitments to a new issue.EGP has been trying to do an IPO sine last year and the current bullish market environment in Europe might be the best time for it to clinch the deal.
October 26, 2010
Putting up Solar Panels on prominent landmarks is an easy and cheap way to promote Green Energy.In the last few years, a number for prominent places in the world have been installing solar energy in an effort to reduce GHGs and to publicize the clean economy.It advertises the advantages of putting solar panels in powering buildings which account for 40% of the global energy usage.'s Sydney's Opera House,India's Golden Temple are some of the other landmarks that have installed solar panels to cut fossil fuel use and encourage the use of renewable energy.White House has also decided to install solar panels next year after a prolonged campaign by green activists.Note White House had earlier installed solar panels during the time of Jimmy Carter and the OPEC Oil Embargo.These has been decommissioned by Reagan reflecting changed energy fundamentals.India's Parliament House has now decided to go green using solar panels and biomass plants to drastically reduce its carbon footprint.The Indian Parliament generate a huge amount of food waste which will help in powering the biomass plant.
October 22, 2010
The JV with the Adani Group is a win-win for both companies.Adani Group is setting up 16000 MW of Thermal Based Plants in India over the next few years and has also planned a 100 MW Solar Plant in Gujarat.It has started a company Adani Renewable Energy to take forward its Green Energy initiatives.The tie-up with Siemens will allow it to access cutting edge Green Technology while Siemens will get a huge customer for its Energy Equipment.Renewable Energy in India is a huge growth opportunity considering that India will have to increase its Renewable Energy by almost 45 GW over the next 10 years if it has to meet 15% of its Electricity Requirements from Green Sources as mandated by the CERC.
October 21, 2010
Haryana is one of the richest states in India strategically located near India's capital of Delhi.Haryana cities like Gurgaon and Faridabad have benefited hugely from being part of India's National Capital Region (NCR).However Haryana only generates 0.5% of its 4000 MW of Electricity from Renewable Energy Sources.The state has negligible Wind or Biomass Energy.Despite a Department of Renewable Energy being setup to specifically promote the use of Alternative Energy Sources,the state has not had much success.Haryana is richly endowed with Solar Energy Resources with 320 days sunny days.The State has managed to win some allocation from the centre's JNNSM scheme.It is also promoting the use of solar energy through disseminating solar kits amongst 2000 schools and providing solar lighting in around 500 villages.Note India had already made it mandatory for 6% of the Energy to be generated from Renewable Energy Sources.Haryana has a long way to go and might have to buy a huge amount of expensive Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) unless it gets its act together.
October 21, 2010
The HPUC has given a FIT rate which is quite low for solar energy and has failed to implement a policy for installations between 500-5000 KW.Also the FIT rates for Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) does not make sense at all for under 500 KW installations.Don't think there exists a single decent producer of such small CSP plants.The FIT Policy was passed despite stiff opposition from the island's utilities who questioned the Feed in Tariff as a good Green Incentive.The huge success enjoyed in Europe by FIT did not make a big impression.Note 80% of the world's solar installations depend on Feed in Tariffs.While there have been bad implementation cases of FIT in Spain and Czech,there have been huge successes in other countries like Germany and UK.HPUC rightly decided to go ahead as trial and errors would be needed . It won't lead to a huge boom in solar in Hawai due to poor returns however it should lead to some boost to existing solar producers or those who were going to install solar anyway.
October 20, 2010
According to a report from Maplecroft,India and Bangladesh are the countries most at risk from the deleterious effects of Climate Change.The other countries in South Asia like Nepal,Myanmar,Pakistan are not far behind.Maldives the smallest country in South Asia is the heaviest in danger with its very existence at stake.Next in the list are African countries like Mozambique,Madagascar and others from Global Warming Changes like Droughts,Floods,Submersion etc.Note Climate Change has faced massive setbacks in recent time with the failure of the Copenhagen meet and not much chance of success with the next Cancun meet.USA and China the two biggest emitters of GHGs have been reluctant to move forward in the the Climate Change issue.Note the poorest countries are the most vulnerable to climate change and they have the least voice in climate change talks.Rich countries like Saudi Arabia have even blocked studies on climate change by poor island nations.
October 17, 2010
US Steelworkers Union filed a Trade Complaint against China over its predatory practices in Green Sectors recently listing numerous infringements.While it was not thought of as a serious complaint because all Green Sectors have an element of Subsidy from Governments.This was seen as more of a tactical maneuver to gain more concessions from Chinese Green Investors in the USA like the A-Power deal with USW to buy USA made Steel for its Wind Turbine Plant in the USA.However what has been surprising is the alacrity with which the USA administration has accepted the 301 Filing.Now the USA Government Apparatus will investigate the claims and file punitive duties and penalties on Chinese made Green Products imported into the US.This has already resulted in a major stock sell-off in Chinese Solar Stocks which were enjoying a great rally.Note this Green War is part of a general Trade Cold War between the USA and China.This threatens to derail the feeble global economic recovery that we have seen so far.Without compromise and agreement between the major global powers on reducing the huge global imbalances,this could easily result in a Depression which was averted in 2008.
October 12, 2010
Rosatom has strong competencies despite the Chernobyl disaster as a black mark in its history.The Company has already constructed reactors in China,India and Iran during the Soviet Union Days and is constructing 5 reactors in foreign markets.With strong technology expertise and with laxer safety standards at home,it is trying to outflank Areva in its home turf.Note Areva is already facing losses from the Finland Nuclear Project which has proved to be a huge disaster.It additionally faces competition from Toshiba-Westinghouse which is ramping up its efforts to compete with Areva.GE-Hitachi suffers from a technological handicap compared with Toshiba and Areva,however GE cannot be underestimated because of its Global Reach and Industrial Strengths.Rosatom is that last thing that Areva needs in its shrinking home turf of Europe.Germany is facing huge opposition just for extending the life of its nuclear reactors while France has pretty much saturated its Electricity Market with Nuclear Energy.
October 11, 2010
Abu Dhabi has got the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world with asset of over $600 Billion.The small emirate which is a part of the larger United Arab Emirates is one of the richest countries in the world due to its Oil Riches.The country had made ambitious Renewable Energy Plans setting up a Fund/Company dedicated to its Green Ambitions called Masdar.The Company has faced a number of reverses as it tried a number of things all at once in a new industry.Its "Jack of All Trades" Strategy has proven to be a failure as it lost/fired a number of top executives.Its Solar Plans have also come up a cropper as Thin Film Technology has faced a lot of reverses in recent times.The Company has tried to change tactics by concentrating now on Solar Thermal Technology partnering with Abengoa and Total in building a CSP plant near Abu Dhabi.With its Renewable Energy Arm facing a number of reverses,its plan for a futuristic,zero carbon Green Masdar City has also been scaled down.
October 11, 2010
Constellation Energy has become the latest USA Utility to cancel its proposed new nuclear energy plant to be built in Maryland.Despite a Loan Guarantee from Department of Energy (DOE) as part of the US Green Stimulus,Constellation has found the economics of the Nuclear Reactors as unworkable.In fact this is keeping with the trend of other utilities in the Developed World who have found New Nuclear to be too expensive.While a number of cyclical factors are at play (Wind Energy has also been affected) in hindering the development of these plants,it seems a secular shift has occured.Finland has become the poster boy of a Nuclear Project Disaster with the main developer Areva bleeding from losses as time and cost overruns have almost doubled.The increaseing costs of environment and safety regulations has increase manifold since the last spurt of nuclear energy construction in the 1980s.The Nuclear Renaissance has proven to be a complete failure in the Western Countries.While China continues with its aggressive Nuclear Expansion plans,construction in the US has come to a virtual halt.Exelon which is the largest Nuclear Energy Operator in the USA has also halted developed of 2 new reactors in Texas.These Utilities have said that they need much higher energy prices and a carbon tax before going ahead with reaction construction.Note Exelon recently bought a Wind Energy Operator as Solar/Wind become the favored Green Energy choices.
October 11, 2010
A US expert has said that India was the target of the Stuxnet Attack rather than Iran.India's Insat 4B Communications Satellite suffered from a malfunction recently and it used the same Siemens software which was the target of this Worm Attack.India has been subject to Chinese cyberwarfare attacks in the past .This has led to a general wariness in the Indian Establishment over Chinese origin companies like Huawei operating in India.Tensions between Indian and China have been rising over a range of issues such as territory,supply of arms and nuclear reactors to Pakistan and construction of military bases around India.The failure of an Indian Communications Satellite without any explicit attack done surreptitiously by Chinese hackers does not seem far fetched.Nothing would be clearly known to the general public given the clandestine nature of these cyberwarfare between nation states.However India's decision to bolster its cyberwarfare capabilities and the recent decision by Google to abandon China,all point to China using cyberattacks as an instrument of statecraft.
October 7, 2010
Renewable Energy is Easter Europe has boomed driven by government incentives and subsidies.Many of these countries like Estonia,Bulgaria and Czech are cutting or already have cut generous feed in tariffs paid to Green Energy Investors.While Czech has seen an unprecedented Solar Boom leading to a massive public backlash,Estonia and Bulgaria have seen huge wind energy projects.The Green Energy has boomed in the last 2 years mainly as governments in these countries try to meet the Renewable Energy Target of 20% by 2020 set by the European Union.These East European countries have been hit hard by these EU directives as the costs have spiralled
October 5, 2010
The Government of India has formed a high powered panel to look into replacing the usage of diesel powered gensets by Renewable Energy in Telecom Towers.India has around 300,000 Telecom Towers most of which are powered by expensive diesel generators.The reason is that a lot of the telecom towers are situated in far flung areas where the grid does not exist.Also the power supply in India is erratic and not reliable with 10 hour electricity blackouts not an infrequent occurrence.In these cases a backup supply of electricity supply is badly needed.Diesel Generators are the most popular form with Diesel heavily subsidized by the government in comparison to normal petroleum.Also Diesel Generators are widely available without huge capital costs.
September 29, 2010
United Kingdom a Laggard on Renewable Energy
UK has been the biggest laggard in Renewable Energy amongst the European Union.Despite being a leader in Offshore Wind,it severely lacks in other forms of Green Energy like Solar,Biomass etc.It has been very late in introducing a Feed in Tariff Scheme which has been a huge success in Germany and other countries.While there have been booms and busts caused by poorly designed FIT schemes in Czech and Spain,UK does not suffer from this problem.The Subsidy Scheme adopted by UK favors small distributed installations which is currently the aim of the other EU countries.This review has led to uncertainty in the minds of Green Investors as Government Subsidy is essential for reasonable returns.
Why UK is Reviewing the FIT
The Labour Government which implement this Green Policy has changed and the new PM David Cameron is trying to radically change the Government Policy.He has sharply curtailed the UK Budget and may want to change the Opposition Party set Green Policy as well.This seems to be the only justification behind this move which can only be described as erratic.
September 27, 2010
Tamil Nadu is one of India's most prosperous and industrially advanced states located at its southernmost extreme.The state has shown remarkable progress in the field on Wind Energy utilizing almost 80% of its Wind Power Potential with 40% of India's total Wind Installations.With the right mix of policies,Tamil Nadu has also become the hub of Wind Energy Manufacturing with Global Heavyweights like Suzlon,Gamesa,Vestas all building plants in the State.A number of new players like Sterling Infotech and Lietner have also started manufacturing Wind Turbines in Tamil Nadu due to favorable networking effects.The state is also generates the 3rd largest amount of biomass energy with around 340 MW installed.Here are the reasons why Tamil Nadu has become the Biggest Renewable Energy State in India.
1) Tax Holidays and Subsidies - The government has given attractive subsidies to attract Wind Power Developers to the state.Rs 3.39 ( 8c/Kwh) is the tariff given to Wind Energy besides another 1c/Kwh received from the Federal Government as Generation Based Incentive (GBI).The projects in the state easily make 25-30% returns on their investment attracting a whole host of private industry developers.The Industry also gets a 10 year tax holiday,custom duty exemptions and accelerated depreciation boosting the returns even further.A 20 year PPA at fixed prices helps in building investor confidence .
September 25, 2010
Bulgaria has also now decided to cap Renewable Energy Growth with around 12.5 GW of Green Energy applications lying in the backlog.Poorly designed and implemented subsidies are the root cause for such booms and busts.Poor Governance mechanisms are behind these Green Disasters.Bulgaria is the poorest European Union Country and can ill afford higher electricity prices.The government is targeting a 16% RE target by 2020 for which it wants to fix targets for different Green Energy Sources.The power grid operator has already warned of blackouts in case even half of the 12 GW Renewable Energy applications are actually constructed.Solar and Wind Energy have been incentivized with high FITs with global heavyweights like Siemens and Suzlon rushing in to build wind farms.
September 23, 2010
Maharashtra is one of the most industrialized states in India but it lags behind other states in Renewable Energy.The recent mandate by the Central Electricity Regulator to increase the requirement of Renewable Energy to 6% of Electricity Produced found Maharashtra having a severe shortfall.Maharashtra has the largest power capacity in the country with around 21 GW but most of it is thermal based generation.Despite having the second largest Wind Power Capacity with 2 GW which is around 42% of the state's potential.However Maharashtra is still considerably short of the 6% Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) set by it.With CERC set to increase the Green Energy Target to 10% by 2015,Maharashtra needs not only to meet the shortfall but also to increase the share of Renewable Energy.