Will Mandatory State RPO Help India Reach Its Solar Target

Indian states are now targeting to generate at least 25% of their power requirements from renewable energy sources. This is as per the new RPO mandate since India has committed to achieving the ambitious milestone of 500 GW of RE by 2030. The new RPO mandate marks a massive jump from a humble 21% last year, and 19% and 17% in the two years preceding the last year. This target of 25% is slated to increase to 43% by end of this decade. The government has ensured strict compliance as the states failing to do so will be subjected to penal provisions. The states can also purchase RE certificates from other states having surplus power or from power trading platforms.

Here is the range of RPO targets for FY 2023-2030

The Hydropower RPO was introduced a couple of years ago. The energy storage RPO target (included in solar and wind) is 1%-4% till 2030.

Many states have remained a laggard when it comes to renewable energy adoption, while some have emerged as winners. Read Indian Solar State Rankings here. In order to bridge this gap and encourage the other states, the government is strictly enforcing RE purchases. The penalty for states who fail to meet their prescribed targets is a sum in the range of 25-30 paisa per kWh for the first year of default and 35-50 paisa per kWh for the subsequent years.

This year’s soaring temperatures have seriously made people think about going solar as there has been a spike in the electricity bills owing to the high usage of air conditioning indoors. The country is making steady progress. Currently, India’s total installed RE capacity is 114 GW including 57 GW of solar (~6 GW of rooftop solar) and 40 GW of wind. Electricity generation from renewable energy sources (including large hydro) has increased to 322.53 billion units in 2022-21 from 227.96 billion units in 2017-18.