Estimation of techno-economic potential of concentrated solar power in India
Student name: Mr Abhishek Gaur
Guide: Prof R L Sawhney
Year of completion: 2014
Host Organisation: Lahmeyer International India, Gurgaon
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr Ishan Purohit
Abstract: India’s total installed capacity is 245 GW (CEA, 2014) of which some 29% is contributed by
Renewables and Hydropower generation. India is facing severe power crunch with average
peak power deficit of 10% in the past decade . Availability of electricity to every last village
in the country is very much needed to ensure economic development. Also with growing
concerns to ensure energy security in a sustainable manner and reduce dependency on fuel
imports, Government of India has launched Jawahar Lal Nehru National Solar Mission
(JNNSM) in 2010 with ambitious target of installing 20 GW of Solar generation by 2022. But
so far because of absence of ground level study, Concentrated Solar Plants installations has not
seen boom. The primary reason for this is the absence of long term ground measured Direct
Normal Iradiance (DNI) data for the country and absence of any bankable and high resolution
study on estimating CSP potential for the country. Alongwith, lack of experience, financing of
project, absence of supply chain, monopoly of International manufacturers, absence of special
provisions for Thermal Energy Storage (TES) in policy document etc. are hindering the interest
of project developers.
This study estimated district wise CSP potential of India to give policy makers, developers,
lenders and all stake holders to get preliminary idea of techno-economics of developing plant
in identified location. The approach involved is identifying and optimizing the land suitable
for CSP projects, detailed DNI assessment by optimizing the database from multiple sources
comprising satellite and interpolated/ derived databases, CSP technology evaluation and
Energy Yield Assessment followed by the techno-economic analysis.
For this study, India was divided into four DNI zones, and theoretical, technical, and techno- economic potential for the country has been estimated at district level. The study was
implemented on 593 districts of India. The results obtained can be used as preliminary
indicator for identifying niche areas for utilization of solar energy for concentrating solar
power generation in India.
