Hyderabad : The 6th Edition of South India’s largest Renewable Energy Expo, RenewX 2022 concluded at Hyderabad, which is soon emerging as the Clean Technology hub of the country. India has set an ambitious target of meeting half of its energy needs, which is 500 GW, from renewable resources by 2030 and reach the net zero emission levels by 2070. Curated on the theme ‘Unlocking the Era to Net Zero Emissions’, the Expo stressed on the increase in the penetration of renewable energy adoption and geared up the stakeholders to progress towards sustainable development goals.
South India is set to take up its leadership in renewable energy capacity creation again. The incredible support received from the Ministries, Government Departments and top Industry Associations such as, Indo German Energy Forum, National Solar Federation of India, Bridge to India, Indian Bio Gas Association and many more accelerated the transition to a more resilient and sustainable energy economy while also harnessing investment, employment and import replacement opportunities.
The Government of Telangana has made a big pitch to make rooftop solar a reality with one message to the consumer to go for rooftop installations. Speaking on the side-lines of the Expo, Mr N. Janaiah, VC and Managing Director, Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation Ltd said, “TSREDCO is committed to help people set up rooftop panels, who will approach societies and educate consumers about the installation process, savings, and cost per month. Cost comparisons will also be made with 3 to 4 consumers to arrive at optimum costing. Consumers have welcomed this initiative as it provides them with a one-stop shop advantage and will only have to pay the bill. The first batch of a few thousand households have already implemented rooftop solar projects and it is only a matter of time when multiples of tens of thousand housing societies would have adopted this technology.”
One of the key challenges identified to make renewable energy a reality is the acquisition of large swathes of land. “We need approximately over 500,000 acres of land to add about 10,000 MW of renewable energy and land acquisition in India is not easy, takes time, with land holdings being fragmented. The process is cumbersome, and costs are constantly going up,”, said Vinay Rustagi, MD, Bridge to India. Renewable Energy projects take typically 1 year to set up and the Government gives developers about 18 months to develop the project from start to finish, which includes planning and financing work, and a lot of time goes in land acquisition and transmission connectivity. Land acquisition alone can take close to 3-5 years and hence a lot of advance planning work is required both by the Industry and the Government.
India is moving faster than any other country towards a green transition as declared by the Government of India. The current energy crisis will also act as a catalyst to accelerate this transition. Hydrogen is used in many industries, but it is produced out of a process that is not ‘green’. Hence green Hydrogen could be looked at as an alternative to fossil fuels, which means that the hydrogen is produced where the electricity component is generated from a renewable source of energy, like solar or wind. “Today the cost of Hydrogen is about $5-6/unit, and as per the prediction of industry captains the cost of green hydrogen will come down to $1/Unit in the next 4-6 years, which will make it viable for the consumer.”, said Sri. Ajay Mishra, IAS, Director General – RESI and Former Special Chief Secretary, Govt of Telangana.
Speaking at the RenewX 2022, Mr. Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, Informa Markets India said, “RenewX, once again through its 6th edition has taken a step to support the drive to reduce India’s carbon emissions and move towards clean energy. As India looks to meet its energy demand on its own, which is expected to reach 15,820 TWh by 2040, renewable energy is set to play an important role. Use of renewables in place of coal will save India Rs. 54,000 crore (US$ 8.43 billion) annually. We are glad that the exhibition and the conference, RenewX 2022 gave impetus to the renewable energy stakeholders to adopt latest technologies and trends and achieve a carbon neutral economy by 2050”
“Being blessed with long coastlines for wind energy, and enough irradiance for solar, the southern states (Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana &Andhra Pradesh) all host renewable energy industry through RenewX in a big way and make it an attractive business destination. Initiatives like CEO Conclave and RenewX awards further encouraged buyers to invest in newer clean energy technologies and bring change in the renewable energy domain with ground-breaking innovations to help India to achieve its renewable energy target,” he further added.
Key dignitaries that made RenewX 2022 the most relevant renewable energy event of the year were Sri N. Janaiah, VC and Managing Director, Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation Ltd, Sri. Ajay Mishra, IAS, Director General – RESI and (former) Spl. Chief Secretary, Govt of Telangana, Mr. BRUSSELMANS Pierre-Emmanuel, Consul General, Consulate General of the Kingdom of Belgium in India, Shri. Vinay Rustagi, MD – Bridge to India Pvt. Ltd and Mr. Rajneesh Khattar, Sr. Group Director, Informa Markets in India among others.
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