Unleashing the potential of renewable energy in India

India has 150 GW of renewable energy
potential, about half in the form of small hydropower,
biomass, and wind and half in solar, cogeneration, and
waste-to-energy. Developing renewable energy can help India
increase its energy security, reduce the adverse impacts on
the local environment, lower its carbon intensity,
contribute to more balanced regional development, and
realize its aspirations for leadership in high-technology
industries. This diagnostic note draws on a detailed
analysis conducted by a PricewaterhouseCoopers India
consulting team in 2008-09 for the World Bank. The data are
based on information on about 180 wind, biomass, and small
hydropower projects in 20 states, as well as information
from and norms of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
(MNRE) and the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission
(CERC). The study is intended to provoke discussions of the
feasibility of renewable energy development in India. Why is
renewable energy development relevant? How much development
is economically feasible? What needs to be done to realize
the potential? Each of these topics is addressed in a
separate chapter, all of which suggest a few implementable
measures that India can consider to tap its economically
feasible unharnessed potential.