State of CSP in India Low

THE STATE OF CONCENTRATED
SOLAR POWER IN INDIA

A roadmap to developing solar thermal technologies in India
Centre for Science and Environment
Inner Front Cover
THE STATE OF CONCENTRATED

SOLAR POWER IN INDIA
A roadmap to developing solar thermal technologies in India
Research direction: Chandra Bhushan

Writers: Aruna Kumarankandath and Nayanjyoti Goswami
Editor: Archana Shankar
Cover design: Chaitanya Chandan
Layout design: Surender Singh
Production: Rakesh Shrivastava and Gundhar Das
This document has been produced with the financial contribution by Swedish public
development co-operation aid through the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation,
SSNC. The views herein shall not necessarily be taken to reflect the official opinion of
SSNC or its donors.
We are grateful to Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation for their support. Shakti
Foundation works to strengthen the energy security of India by aiding the design and
implementation of policies that support energy efficiency and renewable energy.
The views expressed and analyses represented in this document do not necessarily
represent those of Shakti. The company accepts no liability for the content of this
document, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information
provided.
Citation: Chandra Bhushan, Aruna Kumarankandath and Nayanjyoti Goswami 2015,

The State of Concentrated Solar Power in India: A Roadmap to Developing Solar Thermal
Technologies in India, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi
2015 Centre for Science and Environment

Material from this publication can be used, but with acknowledgement.
Published by
Centre for Science and Environment
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Printed at Multi Colour Services, New Delhi
Contents
Introduction 5
JNNSM Phase-I 5
JNNSM Phase-II 9
1. Why has CSP not taken off in India? 11
Does CSP make sense for India? 11
What are the challenges? 15
2. Solar thermal applications 25
Development of solar thermal applications 25
Challenges 30
3. The way forward 31
Build data capacity and confidence 32
Build in stages 33
Reworking existing projects 35
Resource efficiency is critical 35
Features and annexures 37
Overcoming issues One day at a time 38
Bon apptit with the sun 41
Annexure 1 The working principle of CSP technology 43
Annexure 2 The world of CSP 47
References 52
4 Blanck
Introduction
JNNSM Phase-I
he launch of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) on

January 11, 2010 marked a new era of solar-based technologies in India.
The Mission aimed to achieve 22,000 megawatts (MW) of solar-based
installed capacity by 2022 out of which 20,000 MW was demarked for
grid-connected solar power and the remaining 2,000 MW was allocated for
off-grid generations. The entire capacity was divided into three phases the
first phase comprising three years, the second phase comprising four years and
the third and final phase comprising five years (see Table 1: The three phases
of JNNSM).
Table 1: The three phases of JNNSM

Application segment
Utility grid power, including roof top

Offgrid solar applications
Target for
Phase-I
(2010-13)
Target for
Phase-II
(2013-17)
Target for
Phase-III
(2017-22)
1,000-2,000 MW
4,000-10,000 MW
20,000 MW
200 MW
1,000 MW
2000 MW
Source: MNRE, December 2012, Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission Phase-II Policy Document
The idea in Phase-I was to give equal emphasis to both solar photovoltaic (SPV)
as well as concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies (also known as
concentrated solar thermal [CST] technologies). Therefore, 500 MW each was
allocated to SPV as well as CSP technologies in Phase-I. This phase was further
divided into Batch-I and Batch-II. The division was designed to take advantage
of the learning curve and rectify mistakes of Batch-I so that scaling-up actions
could be undertaken in Batch-II. But owing to the longer gestation period for
Godawari Green commissioned Indias first concentrated solar power in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan
5
THE STATE OF CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER IN INDIA
Graph 1: CSP tariff trend during JNNSM Phase-I bidding

CERC banchmark
Average tariff
Bidders
Abhijeet Group
Godawari Green
Aurum
Reliance Power
MEIl Green Power
KVK Energy
Lanco
0
10
Rs per kWh
15
20
Source: Concentrated Solar Power: Heating Up Indias Solar Thermal Market under the National Solar Mission, Council on
Energy, Environment and Water and Natural Resources Defense Council, 2012
CSP technologies, most of the target for CSP earmarked for Phase-I was opened
for bidding in Batch-I only (470 MW). The Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy (MNRE) wanted to ensure that these projects started operations by May
2013. Accordingly, proposals were invited and seven bidders were shortlisted
out of 55 in November 2010.1 The reverse bidding mechanism was used to
shortlist bidders; the lowest bid received was Rs 10.49 per kWh.2 CERC
guidelines, which came out in February 2010 much before JNNSM Phase-I,
Batch-I bidding opened benchmarked Rs 15.31 per kWh as the cost of
generation from CSP (irrespective of technologies) based on capital
expenditure of Rs 15.30 crore per MW.3 The lowest bid received through
reverse bidding was 31 per cent lower as compared to the benchmark cost
decided by CERC. The highest bid amongst the seven shortlisted projects was
Rs 12.25 per kWh and average bid was Rs 11.41 per kWh still 25 per cent
lower than the CERC benchmark (see Graph 1: CSP tariff trend during JNNSM
Phase-I bidding).
The reverse bidding mechanism helped bring the cost down to such a level that
India became one of the lowest in terms of cost per kWh of generation.4 The
average tariff quoted by bidders was 39 per cent lower than the prevailing tariff
in Spain, which leads CSP technology in the world (see Graph 2: Comparison
of CSP tariffs).
The aggressive biddings can be attributed to the fact that the bidders were not
aware of challenges they might encounter while commissioning CSP projects.
Lavleen Singal, ACIRA Solar, one of the developers who did not win in the
bidding, said in retrospect, Aggressive reverse bidding brought forth winning
bids but not viable bids for sustainable operation.5
NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN) was appointed as the nodal
agency to purchase power from all solar projects during Phase-I of JNNSM. It
completed signing the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with all the seven
bidders by January 2011. A clause in the bid document said that the projects
would be commissioned within 28 months from the date of signing the PPAs
and accordingly the commissioning date was decided as May 2013. But
because of several challenges faced by the developers in terms of reliable Direct
Natural Irradiance (DNI) data, availability of material and manpower, difficulty
6
in getting finances etc., no bidder could honour the clause. Considering the
delays in commissioning, some because of genuine reasons, MNRE granted a
10-month extension in May 2013. But in spite of the extension there was only
one project (see Features and Annexures: Overcoming issues One day at a
time) that could be commissioned in the timeline. After the extended deadline
also passed, as of January 2015, there were three CSP projects commissioned.
The two additional are Reliance Powers (Rajasthan Sun Technique) 100-MW
linear Fresnel plant in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, and Megha Engineering and
Infrastructures 50 MW parabolic trough-based plant in Ananthapur district,
Andhra Pradesh. The 100-MW CSP plant of Reliance Power had been in the
pre-commissioning stage since November 2013 and was officially
commissioned in November 2014.6 MEILs plant was commissioned around the
same time in November last year.7
Aside from these three projects, four remaining projects are far behind
schedule. The developers of these projects have again petitioned before
CERC for another extension in March 2014 along with revisions of tariffs8
(see Table 2: CSP plants sanctioned in JNNSM Phase-I, Batch-I).
Apart from these seven projects, there were three more CSP projects at various
stages of development at the time of announcing JNNSM. In order to encourage
project developers and for the industry to gain confidence in the technology,
these three projects were also considered under JNNSM through a migration
scheme.9 The three projects, all of 10-MW capacity, thus migrated to JNNSM to
complete the quota of 500 MW of Phase-I10 (see Table 3: Migration projects
under JNNSM Phase-I).
MNRE decided a commissioning date of March 2013 for the migration projects
and offered them the full financial support available under JNNSM. However,
out of these three projects with capacities of 30 MW, only 2.5 MW have been
commissioned so far. ACME built a 2.5-MW solar-power tower in the first
phase but because of wrong DNI and other optimisation issues, decided not to
Graph 2: : Comparison of CSP tariffs
20
18.9
18
16.2
Tariff in Rs/kWh
16
14
15.66
15.12
12.42
10.21
Average tariff in India
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
South Africa
Spain
Italy
Portugal
CSP tariff in other countries
Greece
Morocco
Source: Paving the way for transformational future, ESMAP, World Bank
Table 2: CSP plants sanctioned in JNNSM Phase-I, Batch-I

S. No.
Project
Tariff quoted
(Rs/kWh)
Size and technology
Location
Status
Lanco Solar Diwakar
10.49
100 MW parabolic
trough with 4-hour
storage
Askandra,
Jaisalmer,
Rajasthan
Land levelling done,

looking for
buyers
KVK Energy Ventures
11.20
100 MW parabolic
trough
Askandra,
Jaisalmer,
Rajasthan
Reliance Power
(Rajasthan Sun
Technique)
11.97
100 MW
linear Fresnel
Dhursar,
Jaisalmer,
Rajasthan
Commissioned in
November 2014
after being in
precommissioning
for a year
Corporate Ispat
Alloy/Abhijeet
12.24
50 MW
parabolic trough
Nokh,
Jaisalmer,
Rajasthan
Basic engineering
done, looking for
buyers
Godawari Green
12.20
50 MW
parabolic trough
Nokh, Jaisalmer,
Rajasthan
Commissioned in
August 2013
Aurum
12.19
20 MW
parabolic trough
Mitrala,
Porbandar,
Gujarat
Land levelling done,

orders put for
most equipment
MEIL Green Power
11.31
50 MW
parabolic trough
Pamidi,
Ananthapur,
Andhra Pradesh
Commissioned in
November 2014
Source: Compiled by CSE from various sources
follow through its expansion plans. The current set-up is also not under
operation because of a techno-economic feasibility issue 11 (see Box: First
demonstration project after JNNSM Phase-I bidding failed).
In November 2011, Entegra chairman Mukul S. Kasliwal alluded that the
company had not even broken ground for the 10-MW CSP parabolic trough
plant since they were unable to raise finances for the project. We havent
started because were not going to do something that doesnt make sense
financially, Kasliwal said, speaking to Bloomberg.12
Dalmia Solar, part of Dalmia Cement, had partnered with Infinia, a USA-based
company engaged in the manufacturing of Stirling dishes, for the technology
and placed an order of 3,000 units of Infinias 3.2 KW Power Dish system.13
But, Infinia filed for bankruptcy in September 2013.14 Though the project is
said to be still under development, the company website does not talk about the
project at all.15
Table 3: Migration projects under JNNSM Phase-I
S. No
Developer
Capacity
CSP technology
ACME Solar
10 MW
Solar tower
Entegra
10 MW
Parabolic trough
Dalmia Cement
10 MW
Sterling dish
Source: Guidelines for Migration of Existing Under Development Grid Connected Solar Projects from Existing
Arrangements to the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), MNRE
First demonstration project after JNNSM Phase-I bidding failed

The lack of demonstration projects always raised the question of the economic and technical
viability of CSP projects in India.1 The 2.5-MW solar tower project in Bikaner, Rajasthan, by
ACME Solar can be considered the first demonstration project India had after the JNNSM
Phase-I bidding. The 46-metre-high solar tower project began construction in 2009 by ACME
Group and became operational in 2011 in Bikaner. The project developer (PD) relied purely
on the satellite data provided by NASA and some handbooks that were available at that time
for establishing generation pattern for the plant. When the plant started its operation, the
PD realised that DNI levels in India were not as high as NASA data showed, which impacted
the financial viability of the plant to a great extent.
John M. Jacob, deputy general manager, Solar Thermal Efficiency of ACME said, At the time
of engineering the design, since the DNI was expected to be higher than what has been
actually received on the ground, the solar field laid down became insufficient to produce the
required power.2 As a result, during the inception of the project the plant was drawing more
power than it could generate. Though the issue was subsequently resolved and there was
positive generation, the problem erupted again. The plant is not running at the moment
and now the issues are being worked on, added Mr Jacob when a CSE researcher visited the
site in July 2013.
On the finance front, the project was built with 100 per cent equity contribution. The idea
was to expand the project to the level of 10 MW with financial support from commercial
banks once a successful demonstration was in place. However, failure of the demonstration
project has prompted ACME to drop all future expansion plans as expansion would require
redesigning the entire plant.
JNNSM Phase-I has therefore conceived only three projects amounting to 200
MW in four years. Therefore, bigger questions related to sustainable operations
of CSP in India are yet to be answered (see Graph 3: Target versus achievement
during JNNSM Phase-I).
JNNSM Phase-II
Because of CSPs poor performance in JNNSM Phase-I, MNRE has decided to
reduce the share of CSP to 30 per cent in Phase-II. In Phase-II, the targets
have been divided between the Centre and the states, where states have been
Graph 3: Target versus achievement during JNNSM Phase-I
500
470
MW
400
Target (MW)
Achievement (MW)
300
200
200
100
30
2.5
0
JNNSM Phase-I allocation
JNNSM Phase-I migration
Source: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
Table 4: CSP targets at the Central and state levels in JNNSM Phase-II
Technology
Total
Centre
State
Ratio
MW
Ratio
MW
Ratio
MW
Solar PV
70 %
6,300
40 %
2,520
60 %
3,780
Solar Thermal
30 %
2,700
40 %
1,080
60 %
1,620
Source: Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission Phase-II Policy Document, MNRE
asked to fulfil 60 per cent of the targets. In other words, the 30 per cent target
allocated to CSP has been divided further in the ratio of 40 and 60 between
the Centre and states respectively. But keeping in mind the performance of
CSP in Phase-I (which was a 100 per cent Central target) and lack of
experience in states, it is highly doubtful that much of these targets will
really be fulfilled (see Table 4: CSP targets at the Central and state levels in
JNNSM Phase-II).
The first batch in Phase-II was allocated in February 2014; the 750 MW were all
dedicated to PV.16 Guidelines for Batch-II (announced in July 2014) in Phase-II
for 1,500 MW have not included CSP either.17 According to MNRE, there is still
not enough experience in CSP technology to decide on further course of actions
in JNNSM Phase-II. While speaking at the CSP Focus 2014, Tarun Kapoor, Joint
Secretary, MNRE, alluded to the fact that Solar Energy Corporation of India
(SECI) would soon come out with the proposal for two pilot projects, each of
50 MW capacity before the end of 2014.18 The proposals for the projects are
still awaited.
Clearly, CSP technologies have not yet taken off in India.
New targets for renewables

During the budget session of FY 2015-16, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley increased the targets for renewable energy for the
country to 175 GW to be achieved by 2022. (see Table 5: Increased targets for renewable energy)
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy hosted an expo for investment promotion for the renewable energy sector in
India, Re-Invest 2015, in February 2015 as well. The event was aimed at setting new targets, new paradigms of growth and
demonstrate to the world Indias commitment to a Clean and Green future.1 The event concluded with 14 banks and
financial institutions, eight PSUs and private manufacturers, 15 private sector companies giving their green energy
commitments of a total of 2,66,000 MW to the ministers.2
In contrast to all the renewed hope in the renewable
energy sector, CSP is has been completely ignored.
All the solar developments have been focused on
solar PV. The 100-GW target set up includes 40 GW of
rooftop solar that is entirely solar PV. Apart from
this, the government has also announced the
Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra
Mega Solar Power Projects in the country in
December 2014.3 The Scheme intended to set up at
least 25 solar parks each with a capacity of 500 MW
and above. The solar parks have not specified
whether the focus is on CSP or PV.
10
Table 5: : Increased targets for renewable power

Sources
Capacity (in MW)
Solar
1,00,000
Wind
60,000
Biomass
10,000
Small hydro
5,000
Total
1,75,000
Source: Finance Ministers speech in Parliament on February 28, 2015
1.
Why has CSP not taken off in India?

Map 1: India solar resource: direct normal solar resource
o answer the question Why has CSP not taken off in India?, we need
first to analyse the following two questions: Does CSP make sense for
India? If so, what are the challenges it faces?
Does CSP make sense for India?

Indias solar potential
CSP technology concentrates solar radiation to produce heat and convert water
into steam. Therefore, the technology requires direct solar radiation to fall on
11
reflective mirrors to concentrate at a particular point (see Annexure 1). The DNI
map of India depicts that several states in India are suitable for solar thermal
projects, namely Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra in the west, Jammu and
Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the north, and Karnataka,
Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the south of India. Of these nine states, the
entire land masses of Gujarat and Rajasthan receive good DNI on yearly
average. According to the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation
(TREC), each square kilometre of hot desert receives solar energy equivalent to
1.5 million barrels of oil.1 The Thar Desert, in Rajasthan, receives more than
2,000 kWh of DNI per square metre per annum, estimated to be sufficient to
generate 700-2100 gigawatts (GW) of energy.2 Therefore, theoretically, India
has a good potential for CSP technology.
Capacity utilisation factor (CUF)

Capacity utilisation factor (CUF) is a critical parameter to evaluate whether a
particular technology makes sense in a specific geographic location over a
competing technology. CERC tariff order in November 2010 considered a CUF of
23 per cent for CSP technology (without thermal storage) as against 19 per cent
for solar PV. Recently commissioned Godawari Green Power in Rajasthan also
confirmed achievement of 24 per cent CUF on an average and the maximum has
gone up to 29 per cent (see Features and Annexures: Overcoming issues One
day at a time).
MNRE declares the monthly CUF of commissioned solar plants based on actual
generation data. The average CUF measured during May-July 2014 for 16 solar
PV projects commissioned during JNNSM Phase-I in Rajasthan is 22 per cent
whereas average CUF achieved in Godawari Green Power for the same period is
24 per cent (see Table 6: Average CUF achieved in SPV and CSP plants in
Rajasthan and Graph 4: Comparison of CUF for SPV and CSP plants in
Rajasthan).
Though the actual generation data is influenced by several factors such as solar
radiation, technology, temperature, tracking systems and atmospheric
conditions (cloud, dust etc.), CUF of CSP (without storage capacity) is
comparable to that of solar PV systems with similar operating conditions. It is
also worth noting that the rainy season has considerable impact on the CUF in
CSP when compared to PV as noticed for the plant.
Thermal storage
The biggest advantage of installing a CSP plant is the opportunity of thermal
storage capacity addition. Since a CSP plant primarily produces heat, the heat
produced can be stored by using various technologies, most prevalent being
molten salt technology. The stored heat can be released to produce electricity
by running a steam turbine at a later stage. The advantages of thermal storage
are manifold:
12
Increase in CUF: The increase in CUF is possible because the solar power
is captured during the day to utilise it at a time when there is no sun or
when sunlight is dim. A report published by the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL) in 2011 suggested that CUF of CSP plant can go up to 40
to 50 per cent with 6-7.5 hours of storage while without storage the CUF lies
in the 20-28 per cent range.3
Table 6: Average CUF achieved in SPV and CSP plants in Rajasthan

S. No.
Company
May 2014
CUF
June 2014
CUF
July 2014
CUF
Average
CUF
Alex Spectrum Radiation Pvrivate Limited
24.34%
24.36%
22.31%
24.00%
Amrit Energy Private Limited
24.96%
24.13%
17.75%
22.00%
Azure Power (Rajasthan) Private Limited
24.09%
23.72%
20.07%
23.00%
CCCL Infrastructure Limted
18.04%
20.42%
20.02%
19.00%
DDE Renewable Energy Private Limited
21.26%
19.73%
18.02%
20.00%
Electromech Maritech Private Limited
21.69%
21.47%
19.13%
21.00%
Finehope Allied Energy Private Limited
25.10%
24.57%
18.77%
23.00%
Greentech Power Private Limited
25.07%
23.23%
22.97%
24.00%
Indian Oil Corporation Limited
19.66%
18.91%
17.06%
19.00%
10
Khaya Solar Projects Private Limited
26.93%
27.05%
23.13%
26.00%
11
Mahindra Solar One Private Limited
26.73%
25.55%
23.42%
25.00%
12
Newton Solar Private Limited
21.25%
20.87%
18.46%
20.00%
13
Oswal Woollen Mills Limited
23.10%
23.51%
19.13%
22.00%
14
Saidham Overseas Private Limited
26.84%
27.19%
22.25%
25.00%
15
Unj Lloyd Solar Power Limited
20.74%
19.89%
16.86%
19.00%
16
Vasavi Solar Power Private Limited
26.74%
27.32%
22.92%
26.00%
17
Godawari Green Energy Limited
29.08%
25.38%
16.50%
24.00%
Source: MNRE Net Exported Power Summary
26.00%
19.00%
25.00%
22.00%
20.00%
25.00%
26.00%
19.00%
24.00%
23.00%
21.00%
20.00%
19.00%
23.00%
22.00%
24.50%
24.00%
23.50%
23.00%
22.50%
22.00%
Average CUF
Average Solar PV CUF
Vasavi Solar Power Private Limite
Unj Lloyed Solar Power Ltd
Saidham Overseas Private Limited
Oswal Woollen Mills Ltd
Newton Solar Private Limited
Mahindra Solar One Private Limited
Khaya Solar Projects Pvt Ltd
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd
Greentech Power Private Limited
Finehope Allied Energy Pvt Ltd
Electromech Maritech Pvt Ltd
Dde Renewable Energy Pvt Ltd
Cccl Infrastructure Ltd
Azure Power (Rajasthan) Pvt Ltd
Amrit Energy Private Ltd
21.50%
Alex Spectrum Radiation Pvt Ltd
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
24.00%
Graph 4: Comparison of CUF for SPV and CSP plants in Rajasthan
Average Godawari Green Energy Limited CUF
Source: MNRE Net Exported Power Summary
13
Grid-flexibility: CSP with thermal storage enhances the grid flexibility to

accommodate infirm or intermittent power. The power which can be
produced from the thermal storage capacity can be ramped up and down
quickly and on demand. Therefore, depending upon variability of
renewable power, CSP plant can minimise grid shocks.
Flexibility in configuration: Given a solar field size and the units of electricity
required to be generated, the CSP plant with thermal storage can be configured
differently based on the time of day and rate at which power is required.
Vimal Kumar of Cargo Power and Infrastructure said, The 25-MW CSP plant
based on parabolic trough technology in Kutch, Gujarat, will be able to
achieve 62 per cent Plant Load Factor (PLF) because of the nine-hour thermal
storage capacity. This makes the plant equivalent to a 66-MW CSP plant
without any storage.4
As far as thermal storage is concerned, apart from the 25-MW CSP plant of Cargo
Power and Infrastructure in Kutch, Gujarat, which has been under construction
for almost three years, there are no case studies. The two pilot projects that
MNRE plans to set up will have thermal storage of three hours each.
Hybridisation
In addition to thermal storage, CSP plants can be hybridised with other thermal
power plants that run on coal, gas or biomass. Hybridisation can provide two
benefits. First, a CSP plant can be coupled with conventional coal- or gas-based
thermal power stations to preheat boiler water. This will significantly reduce
consumption of coal or gas in thermal power plants and in turn their carbon
footprints. Second, CSP can be hybridised with other renewable sources like
biomass, wind or solar PV to generate more firm power. This will increase the
CUF of the hybrid system significantly.
Today, the cost of power generated from solar thermal power plants is very
high (especially when compared to PV). Despite several decades of
development, a step change in technology is needed to drive down costs.5
Hybridised CSP plants are a good intermediate step for CSP to gain momentum
in the country. Ankit Singhvi, solar expert from NN4 Energy, claims, There
could be a saving of 30-40 per cent in the cost of CSP in case of pure
hybridisation. The savings would come from capital investment because there
would be no requirement in power block turbine, boiler and feeder since
those are already exist in the existing plant. Hybridisation will, therefore,
increase capital efficiency.6 Since it would take place with a continuously
running thermal power plant, losses accruing during starting of the plant will
be avoided. This will result in savings in time and will ensure better efficiency.
Therefore, hybrid plants, combining solar thermal energy with traditional
power generation plants, have several key benefits.7
14
Hybrid plants can achieve higher efficiencies than standalone CSP plants
Incorporating the solar thermal into an existing gas-fired power plant saves
on additional costs of a turbine and generator
Daily start-up and shutdown energy losses can be eliminated
Additional operational and maintenance (O&M) costs incurred for a solar
addition are also lower compared to that of standalone CSP
There are inherent advantages of reducing carbon dioxide emissions
Solar dish Stirling system used for solar thermal applications in the National Institute of Solar Energy, Gurgaon
Hybridisation of solar thermal in existing power plants will also contribute to

the objective of capacity building. The workers and engineers working in a
conventional power plant would be trained in a new technology.
Despite the advantages, there are currently no hybrid solar thermal plants
operational in India.
What are the challenges?

The solar potential along with the attributes of CSP technology discussed above
clearly indicate that CSP makes sense for India. However, there are challenges
because of which CSP has not taken off in India. These challenges can be
broadly divided into three categories technical, market and environmental.
Technical challenges
No reliable DNI data: Like any other renewable energy plant, knowledge of the
quality and future reliability of the resource is essential for an accurate
estimation of performance. It, in turn establishes the financial viability of the
project.8 In the first phase of JNNSM, MNRE could not provide accurate DNI
data to the project developers at the time of bidding. As a result, all project
developers had to rely on satellite modelling data while bidding for 470 MW of
allocation. Several literatures suggested that 5 kWh/m2/day (or 1,825
kWh/m2/year) is the minimum DNI required for a CSP project to be viable.9 The
satellite modelling data received from the Spanish Ministry of Science and
Innovation (CIEMAT) estimated that 1,847 kWh/m2/year is the DNI available in
western Rajasthan where most of the projects under JNNSM Phase-I were to be
commissioned. Therefore, CERC recommended a DNI of 1,847 kWh/m2/year to
15
Case study: 3,780-MW hybrid combined cycle natural gas and parabolic trough concentrating
solar power (CSP) generation in Florida, USA
Florida Power and Lights Martin added 75 MW of parabolic trough CSP to its 3,705MW combined cycle natural gas, making
it the worlds largest such hybrid power plant.1 In 2010, it was also one of the worlds largest parabolic trough solar CSP
plants. The project integrates solar thermal into a gas-turbine cycle without the need for heat exchangers.2 To sustain a
constant temperature at the entry point of the turbine, the flow of gas is controlled.
The hybridisation of gas turbines with concentrated solar energy has been underdeveloped for many decades. The European
Union has funded many projects since the beginning of the 2000s. There have been small-scale hybrid solar gas-turbines,
such as the Solgate and Solhyco projects, which have demonstrated solar hybrid gas-turbine projects of 250 kWe capacity.
The advantages of hybrid power plants is that they produce electricity at the most competitive rates, emit the least carbon
dioxide and consume the least possible water.
The hybrid plant includes a field of 1,90,000 parabolic mirrors that heat up a synthetic oil thermal fluid as a heat transfer
fluid to 398C. Even before the addition of the solar generation component, the 3,705-MW Martin County pwer plant was
the USs largest fossil-fuelled power plant. The CSP project is a retrofitted addition to an existing fossil-fuel generation plant
in an area of 500 acres because of which the company saved costs on new turbines, transmission lines and other generation
infrastructure. Based on experience with this project, Florida Power and Light (FPL) expressed that the retrofit cost them 20
per cent less than if they had to build a new separate solar CSP power plant.
The project developer claims that the solar thermal addition would decrease fossil fuel consumption by approximately 41
billion cubic feet of natural gas and 6,00,000 barrels of oil. According to the US Environment Protection Agency, this is the
equivalent of removing more than 18,700 cars from the road every year for the entire life of the project.
The estimated annual generation of the plant is about 155 GWh per year with a capacity factor of 26.3 per cent. The DNI for
the location has been 2,026 kWh/m/yr. The addition of solar thermal cost was about 476.3 million with an estimated
levelised cost of US $0.16/kWh over the lifetime of the plant while the US Energy Information Administrations Annual
Energy Outlook estimated that levellised cost of energy for new CSP plant would be US $0.1827/kWh (Rs 11.28/kWh).
An aeriel view of the 3,780-MW hybrid plant in Martin County, Florida, USA
16
calculate the CUF and financial viability of the projects. The NREL satellite
map of India showed a DNI of 5.5-6.0 kWh/m2/day in the entire states of
Rajasthan and Gujarat. The satellite modelling data released by NASA also
showed a DNI figure of 2,044 kWh/m2/year in western Rajasthan. Therefore,
most developers considered a higher DNI in the range of 2,000-2,200
kWh/m2/year while quoting for the projects.
But the actual DNI measured on the ground at the time of project execution was
quite different than what was estimated at the time of quoting. For example,
Godawari Green Project, which considered the DNI of 1,825 kWh/m2/year,
actually received 1,753 kWh/m2/year at the site. This affected the project
significantly. In order to achieve the desired output of 50 MW, the developer
ultimately had to reengineer the entire project instead of the 80 loops (series
of parabolic mirrors arranged in a circular manner) required originally they had
to put up 120 loops of mirror10 (see Features and Annexures: Overcoming
issues one at a time).
No successful demonstration project: Though there are successful
demonstration projects based on CSP technology across the globe, India did not
have any plant that tested the techno-commercial feasibility of the technology
at the time of JNNSM Phase-I bidding. We have had the National Institute of
Solar Energy (NISE, erstwhile Solar Energy Centre) since 1982 to develop solar
technologies and its related engineering in a 200-acre campus in Gowalpahari,
Haryana, but there had not been enough R&D on CSP when bidding came out.
NISE had commissioned only one 50-KW CSP plant based on parabolic trough
technology to enhance research in 1988.11 Apart from this, Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT) Bombay has also had a working grid-connected parabolic
trough CSP plant of 1-MW capacity since 1989.12 But these pilot projects failed
to provide enough ground-level experience, investor confidence and policy
guidance to take up CSP technology for large-scale implementation.13, 14
The 2.5-MW solar tower project in Bikaner by ACME Solar is the first project
commissioned in India in 2011 under the JNNSM migration scheme. The idea
of the project was to show successful demonstration with a 2.5-MW capacity
and gradually expand to 10 MW. However, owing to the fact that the
performance of the project has been much lower than expected the company
has stalled future expansion plans. ACME blames wrong DNI data as the main
culprit for this failure (see Box: First demonstration project under JNNSM
Phase-I bidding failed on page 9).
The 50-MW capacity Godawari Green Power with parabolic trough technology
is the second project commissioned in 2013 under the JNNSM scheme. The
plant also had to go through a difficult phase where the entire project had to be
reengineered because of faulty DNI data. The project has been generating power
since June 2013 with an average CUF of 24 per cent, but it is too early to
conclude on the project sustainability.
A news report in May 2013 had alluded that four CSP projects were planned, one
with each technology central tower, parabolic trough, linear Fresnel and dish
Stirling with an investment of Rs 2,555 crore. The locations for these projects
were Gujarat (35 MW), Rajasthan (40 MW), Tamil Nadu (25 MW) and Andhra
Pradesh (20 MW).15 MNRE has clarified that these projects have been shelved.
However, two new pilot projects are under planning currently. Speaking in a
conference CSP Focus India 2014 in New Delhi Dr Ashvini Kumar, director
17
(Solar) in the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), said, The tender for
EPC contracts for two pilot projects of 50 MW each, both to be owned by SECI,
would be out at the later part of 2014. Both projects would focus on
improvements in thermal storage, water requirement, efficiency and cost.16
These two projects would be based in Charanka Solar Park, Gujarat and
Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. The total cost for both the projects is estimated to be
around Rs 2,400 crore out of which Rs 960 crore (40 per cent) would come from
government grant. The remaining 60 per cent would be funded by Clean
Technology Fund (CTF) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) through soft
loans under the sovereign guarantee of government of India.17 Tarun Kapoor,
joint secretary, MNRE, claimed that the levelised cost of energy (LCOE) for
these pilot projects is aimed at Rs 6.25 per kWh.18 These projects have still not
been announced.
SECI is also involved in the R&D project for setting up a solar thermal
demonstration park at IIT Jodhpur. The plan is to set up three units each of 5MW capacity CLFR, solar tower and beam-down CSP.19
Market challenges
High capital and operating expenditure: The cost curve of CSP technology has
been unable to compete with that of PV.20 In India the capital cost for solar PV
is Rs 5.87 crore per MW whereas that of CSP is Rs 12 crore per MW as per
CERC, 2015-16 guidelines. It is also surprising and noteworthy that when at the
beginning of JNNSM in FY 2010-11, the capital costs of solar thermal was
deemed lower than that of solar PV, now, in FY 2015-16, it is almost half that
of the solar thermal. For solar thermal power plants to compete with PV with
these numbers becomes difficult in todays scenario (see Graph 5: Capital
expenditure of solar thermal and solar PV).
As a result of the capital-cost disparity, the CERC benchmark cost of
generation for solar PV stands at Rs 6.86 per kWh whereas the cost of
generation for CSP stands at Rs 12.05 per kWh.21 At present, the levelised cost
of energy (LCOE) in Europe stands at Euro 0.139-0.196 per kWh (Rs 10.9215.40 per kWh), which is where Indian estimates also stand. Despite the
European market having more research and experience with this technology
than Indias, power from CSP is not cheaper even in other parts of the world.
In terms of operating costs as well, CSP is more expensive than solar PV
(see Graph 6: O&M expenses of solar thermal and solar PV).
Graph 5: Capital expenditure of solar thermal and solar PV (in Rs lakh)
Capital expenditure
2,000
1,530
1,690
1,500
1,500
1,442
1,300
1,000
1,200
800
1,000
1,200
691
587
500
0
FY 201011
FY 201112
Solar thermal power
FY 201213
FY 201314
Solar PV
Source: Compiled from various CERC Renewable Energy Tariff Guidelines
18
1,200
FY 201415
FY 201516
Graph 6: O & M expenses of solar thermal and solar PV (in Rs lakh)

20.00
O & M expense
13.74
14.53
15.00
15.86
16.77
17.72
12.30
13.00
FY 201415
FY 201516
15.00
10.00
9.51
10.06
FY 201011
FY 201112
11.00
11.63
FY 201213
FY 201314
5.00
0
Solar thermal
Solar PV
Source: Compiled from various CERC Renewable Energy Tariff Guidelines
Given these high costs, solar thermal power plants in India have a questionable
future unless prices come down on account of an indigenous manufacturing
base and cheaper finances are made available to developers.
No non-recourse finance: CSP as a technology has been proven in the world,
but it is still in the initial stage of the technology maturity curve. Though there
have been significant R&D activities on CSP for several decades now, the
technology needs governmental support through subsidies to develop
demonstration projects and build an environment that promotes investment. In
India, there was not enough R&D done on CSP until JNNSM Phase-I was
declared, with a target of 500 MW to be achieved in Phase-I. The government
had not spent sufficient money on R&D and set up demonstration projects
based on CSP technology prior to JNNSM.
The reverse bidding process in JNNSM for feed-in tariff (FiT) actually skipped
two important stages of technology development R&D and demonstration
project. As discussed in the Introduction, the aggressive reverse bidding
process brought the FiT to one of the lowest in the world, but lack of prior
experience and demonstration in the country posed serious economic
challenges to these projects. Investors did not show confidence in the
technology despite financial support provided by MNRE during JNNSM PhaseI bidding. As a result, none of the seven projects awarded could obtain nonrecourse financing.22 Rajiv Ranjan Jha, general manager of Power Finance
Corporation, said, Since there was no successful demonstration project on the
ground, there had to be a guarantee of performance of various components and
sub-components to gain confidence and this was difficult.23
Aggressive bidding was another reason for doubting the financial viability of
the projects in the long run. During Batch-I bidding, the lowest bid received
was Rs 10.49 per kWh against the CERC benchmark of Rs 15.31 per kWh. The
average tariff received from the seven winning bidders was Rs 11.41/kWh,
which was 25 per cent lower than the benchmark. According to the investors,
the reverse bidding process was not a good option for CSP as investment risks
have not been assessed for India. A report commissioned by the Australian
government on CSP in India has expressed that the reverse auction approach
for tariff determination carries with it considerable risk of adventurous
bidders getting allocation who may ultimately be unable to deliver. Although
19
there is a built-in check and balance system of increased bid bonds for higher
discounts, it might be difficult to discourage aggressive biddings if bid bonds
are not considerably high for larger discounts.24 Reverse bidding also
discourages the adoption of innovative and comparatively expensive
technologies.25 For lowest costs, developers usually adopt safe, existing
technological solutions for winning bids for the projects. On the other hand,
investors fear that low tariff bids would not be able to make their projects
financially viable.26
No local manufacturing: According to a World Bank report, the lack of local
manufacturing facilities for some critical components, such as reflective
mirrors, tracking devices, molten salt and heat transfer fluids were a major
hindrance for the growth of CSP technology. Since all the projects in JNNSM
Phase-I relied on import for these components, it made a huge impact on the
cost and delivery of the project. Therefore, the report concludes, developing
domestic manufacturing facilities for some of these critical components would
help improve project delivery at a reduced cost, which in turn will help largescale deployment of CSP.27
This argument can be corroborated by the fact that the 25-MW CSP plant based
on parabolic trough technology with nine hours of thermal storage and
commissioned in the third quarter of 2013 under the Gujarat Solar Scheme
could reduce the capital cost to
Rs 12 crore/MW due to
backward
integration
of
manufacturing
reflective
mirrors, said Dhruv Batra,
Director, Cargo Power &
Infrastructure, the developer of
the project.28 Developers argue
that the CERC estimates are far
below the actual capital costs.
The actual cost for the Godawari
Green plant, according to the
companys
executives,
is
around Rs 16-18 crore per MW.
So Cargo Power managed to
reduce the capital cost by
around 30 per cent.
A dish Stirling system generating power at the Solar Energy Centre, Gurgaon
20
However, John Jacobs, deputy

manager,
Solar
Thermal
Engineering of ACME Solar, is of
the
opinion
that
the
manufacture
of
reflective
mirrors is a matured technology.
There is hardly any scope for
cost
reduction
through
manufacturing
process
improvement.29 Given that CSP
components are exempt from
import duty, low-cost labour is
the only possible option for cost
reduction. But this will require
economies of scale.
The power block of a 1-MW CSP demonstration project in Gurgaon, Haryana
No skilled manpower: Lack of skilled manpower is another reason why CSP

faced several challenges during JNNSM Phase-I, which in turn caused delays.
Achieving this target was not difficult as there are several components which
could be manufactured locally. But making these components locally without
prior experience and a lack of in-house skills was a challenge which hindered
CSP take off. For example, the Godawari Green project required the
manufacture of components with high precision to fabricate the mounting
structure.30 Jyoti Structures, that took up the major portion of fabrication of the
mounting structure, required more time than anticipated to complete its work.
The reasons for this delay were lack of experience and in-house skills.31 Human
resource development (HRD), which has a pivotal role in promoting local
manufacturing, has to be given due importance. Unfortunately, NISE has not
produced enough skills in this regard since 1988 though it had an in-house CSP
plant specifically meant for research and education.
Competition from PV technology: The SPV technology is very mature as
compared to that of CSP. This can be validated by the fact that cumulative SPV
installation crossed the 100-GW mark worldwide in 2013 whereas CSP is still
under the 5-GW level as on December 2014.32 In India, too, the growth of SPV
is phenomenal as compared to CSPs about 3,300 MW of SPV installations as
against 200 MW of CSP as on February 28, 2015.33 This establishes the fact that
project developers as well as investors are more comfortable with SPV than
CSP. The reasons for this inclination are following:
SPV is cheaper than CSP in terms of capital costs and installations

Technological knowhow and skill availability is more in the case of SPV
Investors have experience in working with the technology globally and are
aware of associated financial risk. Therefore, non-recourse project finance is
available for SPV
SPV works on global irradiance whereas CSP works only on direct irradiance.
21
Therefore, impacts of aerosol, water vapour, etc. are less in the case of SPV.
This makes PV more reliable in terms of power generation than CSP
Water requirement per unit of electricity generated from SPV is less than
that from CSP
SPV has a lower gestation period than CSP
Project-developer and investor-sentiment bias towards SPV adds an additional

hurdle in the development of CSP.
Environmental challenges
Water requirement versus allocation: Water is a crucial resource required for
the successful operation of solar thermal plants. It is required mainly for the
regular cleaning of mirrors and production of steam to run the turbine.
Needless to say, water used for producing steam needs to be cooled before
recirculation. CSP plants also use cooling towers to condense water like any
other thermal power plant does. The International Energy Agency (IEA)
estimated that parabolic trough and Fresnel technologies need water up to 3
cubic metre/MWh whereas solar tower uses less only 2 cubic metre/MWh of
electricity generation.34 Comparing these estimates with actual figures
achieved on the ground, we find that ACME Solar produced 7 MWh by utilising
20,000 litres of water per day, which means 2.85 cubic metres of water per
MWh.35 According to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), a typical 2 x 500
MW coal-based power plant uses 4,000 cubic metres of water per hour, mainly
for ash disposal and cooling, which translates into 3.5-4.0 cubic metres of water
per MWh.36 This means that water consumption of a CSP plant is less than that
of coal-based thermal power plants.
Wasting water
In the case of Rajasthan, project developers were assured of water availability through the
Indira Gandhi Nahar Project (IGNP) canal 11.92 cubic feet of water per second for 400 MW
of CSP installations. If we consider a 24 per cent capacity utilisation factor, we find that 12.67
cubic metre of water has been allocated per MWh of electricity generation.1 This means actual
water allocation is 4.2 times more than IEA estimation! Though the rationale behind such
huge allocation is not clear, there is the possibility of criminal wastage of water in the deserts
of Jaisalmer.
Table 7: Water allocation of CSP plants in Rajasthan in JNNSM

Phase-I
Sl. No.
Project
Capacity
(MW)
Water allocation
Cusec
Cubic metre/MWh
at 24 per cent CUF
Lanco Solar, Divakar
100
2.9
9.3
KVK Energy
100
2.9
9.3
Godawari Green
50
1.6
10.27
Corporate Ispat
50
2.02
12.9
Reliance Power,
Rajasthan Sun Technique
100
2.5
8.0
Source: Concentrated Solar Power: Heating Up Indias Solar Thermal Market under the National Solar Mission Council on Energy, Environment and Water and Natural Resources Defense Council, 2012
22
Groundwater levels in Rajasthan and Gujarat

Rajasthan
As per the 2009 records of the Central Ground Water
Board, the net annual groundwater availability in
Rajasthan was 10.79 billion cubic metre (BCM) against
which the state utilised 14.52 BCM in that year.1 This
Groundwater levels in Rajasthan

(January 2014)
means that the state has already developed 135 per cent of
ground water a situation of over-exploitation of the
existing water resources.2
This was a cause of concern for the development of a CSP
plant in Rajasthan. In order to overcome this crisis situation
and to encourage CSP, the Rajasthan Solar Policy 2011
ensured that the Water Resource Department will allocate
the required quantity of water either from Indira Gandhi
Nahar Project (IGNP) canal or from any nearby available
sources for the development of CSP projects subject to the
availability of water for power generation.3 Subsequently
INGP allocated 11.92 cubic feet per second (cusec) flow of
water after signing up a water agreement with these
companies for a total generation of 400 MW.4
Groundwater levels in Gujarat
(January 2014)
Depth to water level (m bgl)

<2
< 2 to 5
5 to 10
10 to 20
20 to 40
> to 40
Depth to water
level (m bgl)
<2
< 2 to 5
5 to 10
10 to 20
20 to 40
> to 40
Gujarat
The Central Ground Water Board stated that the net annual
groundwater availability in 2009 was 17.35 BCM for Gujarat out of which
75 per cent had been exploited.5 Gujarat has a diverse groundwater
profile. Some parts of the state have very low-depth water levels
whereas in other parts the depth of water level is considerably higher.
Incidentally, places with low-depth water level (Porbandar and Kutch
regions) are those where the CSP potential is high.
In order to overcome water shortages, Gujarat Solar Policy, formulated
in 2009, promised that the state will arrange for the water supply for
the CSP projects.6 There are two CSP projects under construction in
Gujarat the first is of 25 MW, developed by Cargo Solar Power, under
the Gujarat state solar policy and the second is with a capacity of
20 MW, developed by Aurum under JNNSM Phase-I. Apart from this,
SECI has proposed another CSP plant at Charanka Solar Park, Gujarat,
with dedicated land and water linkages.7
But areas with high DNI, such as Rajasthan and Gujarat, the ideal locations for
CSP in India, suffer from acute water shortage. Five out of seven projects under
JNNSM Phase-I came in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, and one came in Porbandar,
Gujarat (see Box: Groundwater levels in Rajasthan and Gujarat).
As a result of water scarcity, CSP has the option of dry cooling but it comes
with a trade-off. A CEA study in 2009-10 to evaluate the potential of dry cooling
found that it is less efficient. Dry cooling can lower performance by 7 per cent
and increase cost of generation by 10 per cent.37
However, considering the importance of water in Rajasthan and Gujarat, this
trade-off can be an acceptable norm in the future. Dry-cooling technology has
23
Graph 7: Land required for CSP plants in the US
12.0
10.0
9.5
10.0
Land required
10.0
8.0
6.0
5.3
3.9
4.0
4.7
4.0
3.2
2.0
0
Parabolic trough
Acres/MW
Tower
Dish stirting
Linear Fresnel
Acres/GWh/yr
Source: LandUse Requirements for Solar Power Plants in the United States, NREL
already been adopted as the future for cooling across the world to reduce water
consumption. The trend is gradually emerging in India too.
Land requirement versus allocation: Land in India is scarce and heavily
contested. Hence, there are three important concerns to keep in mind with
respect to land for CSP:
land is used optimally based on technology adopted
ensuring that the land used is not forest or agricultural land
ensuring that local communities are benefitted from the CSP plant in terms
of adequate compensation for land purchase/land lease, employment and
energy access.
The land requirement for CSP varies widely with technology. According to
NREL, total land requirement for different CSP technologies in USA varies from
4.7 acre/MW to 10 acre/MW. However, CUF of different technologies are
different and accordingly the land requirement per giga-watt hour (MWh) of
generation per year will give a different picture altogether. For example, a solar
tower has the highest requirement of land per MW (10 acres/MW), but in terms
of power generation it consumes the least land (3.2 acres/GWh/year) as
shown.38 (see Graph 7: Land required for CSP plants in the US)
Though land is one of the scarcest resources in India, the country has not
developed any benchmark for land uses for CSP. CERC benchmarked 5 acres
per MW for solar PV technology in 2010, but no such benchmark has been
decided for CSP so far.39 However, state government undertaking Rajasthan
Renewable Energy Corporation Limited (RRECL) had set a benchmark of 6.17
acres per MW for CSP with a CUF of 23 per cent both for parabolic trough as
well as solar tower technology. The rule further said that an additional 0.25
acre per MW will be allotted per 1 per cent increment of CUF if the project
comes up with thermal storage.40 Similarly, the government of Gujarats
Department of Energy and Petrochemicals also set a benchmark of 6 acres per
MW for CSP with a provision of extra allowances in case of thermal storage.41
Clearly there is a huge difference between the benchmark land requirement set
in Rajasthan and Gujarat with that of USA. This requires proper due diligence
on the part of the government.
24
Solar thermal applications

Development of solar thermal applications
olar thermal applications have been used in India since the 1980s. Solar
water heaters (the most prominent of the solar thermal applications) are
available in the market for consumers to buy and use. They can be
installed on any rooftop.
In December 2014, there were 8.63 million square metres of solar water- heating
collector areas. The target set out by MNRE for FY 2014-15 has already been
achieved for the water-heater sector.1
The scheme Accelerated Development and Deployment of Solar Water

Heating System in Domestic, Industrial and Commercial Sectors started in
2008. A target of 1.4 million sq. m of collector area was proposed for 2008-10
with a set-aside expenditure of Rs 49.50 crore under the programme. Most of
the achievements in the sector during this period were attributed to this
scheme. As per the annual report of MNRE, there were 2.15 million sq. m of
collector area of solar water heaters in the country and it rose to 3.5 million
square metres till the start of JNNSM in 2010.2 There was also an interest
subsidy; the discounted rate at 6.5 per cent was to be released by IREDA to
banks/FIs/intermediaries. This programme has been put on hold and no new
projects are being taken up by IREDA because, according to MNRE officials, the
priority at this moment is to clear the large backlog that has piled up.3
JNNSM introduced the Off-Grid Solar Thermal Scheme to improve the
market reach of solar thermal applications. The programme thus far has been
implemented through approved channel partners of the categories of
Renewable Energy Service Providing Companies (RESCOs) and financial
institutions, including microfinance institutions acting as aggregators,
financial integrators, system integrators and programme administrators.
JNNSM set out the goals for solar collectors in 2010 (see Table 8: Targets for
JNNSM for solar collectors).
Graph 8: Solar water heating collector areas (in million square metres)
9.00
8.08
8.00
7.01
7.00
5.61
6.00
Area
2.
5.51
5.00
4.00
3.53
3.00
2.00
1.00
1.00
0.62
1.10
1.40
1.08
0
200910
201011
Cummulative installations
201112
201213
201314
Achievement
Source: MNRE Annual Report 2013-14
25
Table 8: Targets for JNNSM for solar collectors

Applications
Target for Phase-I

(2010-13)
Target for Phase-II

(2013-17)
Target for Phase-III

(2017-22)
15
20
Solar collectors
(million square metres)
Source: MNRE, December 2012, Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission Phase-II Policy Document
Graph 9: Solar water heater market, 2013
Industry 6.15%
Other commercial
institutions 5.03%
Residential
79.14%
Hospitals 3.17%
Hotels 6.52%
According to MNRE, the maximum potential of

solar water heating is in the residential sector. As
per their estimates, more than 80 per cent of the
installation in the sector has been attributed to
the residential sector (see Graph 9: Solar water
heater market, 2013). They also look at the same
sector that has the maximum potential for
development in the future. The estimated
potential for solar water heating systems in the
country has been 140 million sq. m in collector
areas, out of which only 40 million sq. m are
potentially techno-economically feasible (see
Table 9: Solar water heating potential in India).
Solar water heating in the residential sector

Table 9: Solar water heating potential (in

million square metres)
2017
2022
Residential
7.68
15.74
Hotels
0.61
0.97
Hospitals
0.27
0.43
Other commercial/institutional
0.39
0.52
Industry
0.57
1.57
Total
9.52
19.23
Two types of solar water heaters are available in

the market: one with flat plate collectors (FPC) and
the other with evacuated tube collectors (ETC)4
(see Table 10: Costs and area required for solar
water heating systems in residential areas).
The biggest savings of using a solar water heater is
the electricity saved from using it. According to
some estimates you can save 1,000-1,500 units in
a year, depending on which region of India the
system is located in.5 Ideally, a solar water heating
system with a capacity of 100 litres is suitable for
a family of four. Assuming that a unit of power
costs Rs 5, on an average a household can save Rs
6,250 a year and recover the cost of investment in
2.5-3.5 years, depending on the system they install
Table 10: Costs and area required for solar water heating systems in
residential areas
Capacity (litres per day)
ETC system
FPC system
Cost (Rs)
Area (sq. m)
Cost (Rs)
Area (sq. m)
100
15,000
1.50
22,000
2.00
200
28,000
3.00
42,000
4.00
250
34,000
3.75
50,000
5.00
300
40,000
4.50
58,000
6.00
350
62,000
7.50
85,000
10.00
Source: Abhishek Jain, Solar Water Heater System how it can help save on electricity bills, March 2014
26
A solar biomass hybrid project for power generation and cold storage in National Institute of Solar Energy, Gurgaon, Haryana
(without any subsidy).6 This is an important point, since the future of any such
subsidy is in question at the moment.
In India, more than 4,39,500 systems have been installed during
2008-14 with a cost of almost Rs 2,250 crores.7 Although this achievement is
with the subsidy that is available 30 per cent of the cost as subsidy to
users in General category states and 60 per cent in Special category
states, e.g. the hilly states, north-eastern states and islands limited to
benchmarks Rs 3,000 per sq. m for ETC-based systems and Rs 3,300 per sq. m
for FPC-based systems.8
However, the analysis shows that solar water-heating systems are proved to be
economically viable and the focus should be on more awareness and
widespread installation of these systems.
Solar thermal applications in the industrial sector

There are a few examples of industrial applications of solar thermal in the
iron and steel, paper and pulp, textile, ceramic and tile, food processing and
dairy (for pasteurisation) industries. It has the potential to replace the fuel
these industries are currently using. As per Shirish Garud, TERI, speaking at
the Global Renewable Energy Forum, Brazil, 2008, There is a potential of
fuel replacement up to 100 per cent in case of pulping, paper drying and pulp
bleaching in the textile industry.9
It was proposed that 20 R&D installations would be started in different
industries in the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12). Each would have a thermal
capacity of about 50 kW for the development of solar-heat collection (up to
250oC). The projects would focus on increasing efficiency and reducing heat
losses, which would be apart from low-heat applications, such as cooking,
27
cooling, drying and food processing.10 The National Institute of Solar Energy
currently is working on:11
a high-efficiency solar thermal air-conditioning system of 100 kW cooling

capacity implemented by Thermax Limited
a project in partnership with TERI, Thermax Limited, SEC and CSIRO

Australia with an objective to develop cold storage, particularly in rural
areas, utilising exhaust heat of biomass gasifier engine/solar Scheffler dish
The ministry has allotted funds from the National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF)
for the implementation of CST-based systems in institutional and commercial
establishments for process heat, community cooking and cooling applications
under the Off-Grid Solar Thermal Programme for the years. However, the share
of money allocated for MNRE from these funds has been slashed from 80 per
cent in 2013-14 to 34 per cent in 2014-15.
There is tremendous scope for CST applications in industries. It is estimated
that over 15 million tonnes of fuel oil is consumed annually in industries for
process heat applications below 250C. Likewise, over 35 million tonnes of fuel
oil is consumed annually for industrial applications above 250C. In JNNSM
Case study: Solar cooling systems at Mahindra and Mahindra, Pune
Mahindra and Mahindra has a facility in Chakan, on the outskirts of Pune, spread over 700 acres and built with an
investment of Rs 5,000 crore. The facility tested solar and renewable solutions that would be suitable for its industrial
process heat and cooling requirements. The Paint Shop Process in the facility requires cold water, at 7oC, which was
maintained with the system of electrical chillers (160 TR chillers with another standby). Constant operation of the Paint Shop
led to high electricity cost for the facility. The plant also uses LPG in electrical heaters. Over time, the electricity bill along
with the emissions of the plant skyrocketed.
The facility installed an 1,120 sq. m integrated solar and heat recovery system for cooling and heating requirements. The
system has 70 solar dishes and a collection of equipment waste-heat recovery units, vapour-absorption machines, heat
pump, heat exchanger and a hot-water generator. The system is capable of meeting the needs of the facility (see Table 11:
System performance, 2013).
The project helps Mahindra save 1,476 tonnes of LPG and 184 MWh of electricity every year at its paint shop. However, like
solar thermal power generation, the monsoon months do
not yield good results for the plant.1 The project was set up Table 11: System performance, 2013
with a total cost of Rs 1.24 crore with a grant from MNRE of
Months
Energy generation/day (kcal)
Rs 39.2 lakh.2 The rate of return with subsidy for the project
is about 23.63 per cent, but without it would only be 12.92
January
19,08,340
per cent. The investment was recovered in less than three
February
15,53,160
and a half years with the subsidy; without it, the payback
March
15,09,300
period would be six years and four months.
We have installed solar dishes supplied by M/s Thermax
India Limited, Pune, for steam generation to be used for
boiling food. We are happy to say that the system is
performing satisfactorily and is leading to considerable
savings of LPG consumption of the hostel. The services of
the solar division of M/s Thermax India Limited have been
prompt and they have proved to be a dedicated team. The
system supplied by them meets our requirements, says
K.N.K.S.K. Chockalingam, director, National Engineering
College, Kovilpatti.
28
April
12,80,540
May
10,46,620
June, July, August

September
Rainy season
4,75,58
October
13,59,660
November
17,56,980
December
18,75,660
Source: Sun Focus magazine, April-June 2014
The China example

China has been developing and investing in solar thermal application since the 1970s. The development of solar thermal
technology has been phenomenal and China is considered by far the biggest solar thermal market worldwide. In terms of
collector area, it represents over 80 per cent of the global residential market.1
China established a commercial solar thermal industry, with over 1,000 factories manufacturing and selling solar systems.
Most of these collectors are used to heat water and are sold without subsidies. It began with supporting the needs of the
rural population who did not have access to electricity for water heating needs. Werner Koldehoff, a member of the
advisory board European Solar Industry Federation (ESTIF), claims, Chinese markets developed out of necessity. Lack of
energy and access to infrastructure pushed the population in remote areas to pursue alternative forms of solutions for water
heating.
The market has been now taken over by the urban sector. One of the primary reasons is that in mid-2007 the National
Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued the Plan on Enforcement of Utilization of Solar Energy Heating
Nationwide that mandated solar hot-water heating in every new construction. This was done keeping hospitals, schools,
and hotels in mind. It gave the country a unique advantage of having an enormous domestic market, especially for
residential and commercial/institutional uses.2 As a builder, one does not receive building permission from the municipality
unless one has demonstrated the plan for integrating solar hot water into the building, says Fude Li, a project engineer for
Linuo Paradigma. The solar thermal industry in China is moving from retrofitted systems for individual households towards
large-scale systems that serve entire buildings from their rooftop.3
Today, the country has taken the export market by storm due in part to technological development making it more
competitive.
In terms of policy, there are currently no subsidies or assistance available for solar water heating in China. In most Chinese
provinces, the solar option of domestic hot water supply is viewed as the most economical. So costs are not an impediment
associated with this sector. Government support is offered in the context of finance for administration and research.4
Research on solar thermal utilisation has been part of the national priorities for the country. The government also allocated
special funds to establish an advanced laboratory and testing facility for solar thermal.
China saw the demand for solar water heating, assessed the need to create a manufacturing base to supply the product for
low prices and developed products to meet the demand. After catering to many of their population, they are exploring
markets abroad with investment in research to enhance the quality of their products. India can learn the correct way of
developing a technology and the right way of supporting them.
Phase-II, at least 400 systems of 250 sq. m each on an average (total 1,00,000 sq.
m collector area) will be installed.
A pharma company in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, uses six Combined Solar Heat
and Power (CHP) Systems (solar collectors which include two parabolic dishes)
for HVAC heating, ventilation and air-conditioning application. The plant
generates around 1,00,000 kcal per day of average DNI location of 5 kWh per sq.
m every day.12 Siddharth Surgicals at Valsad, Gujarat, have commissioned 263
sq. m accumulated area of concentrated solar at an estimated investment of Rs
45 lakh. The solar field will produce 4.02 lakh kcal per day of energy,
displacing an average 40 kg of LPG on a normal day.13
Solar cooling/refrigeration is the most pertinent application for India in
the industrial space. It is estimated that cooling consumes about 35,000 MW of
electricity for various end-uses. It has a few demonstration systems, including:
29
a 100-tonne refrigeration (TR) system at Muni Sewa Ashram, near Vadodara,

for their cancer hospital
a 92-TR plant functioning at TVS Suzuki factory near Chennai for their
office premises
a 212-TR system based on vapour absorption and desiccant cooling at a
hospital run by MC, Thane
a 1,120 sq. m integrated solar and heat recovery system for cooling at
Mahindra and Mahindra, Pune
However, solar cooling/refrigeration is an emerging technology and faces many

growth barriers that are different from other heating and cooling technologies.
Challenges
One of the most significant challenges for the installer is that the technology is
still evolving and there are frequent upgrades and improvements available in
the systems installed. This is an issue since the installer needs to decide what
the right time to invest in a technology would be and/or whether he should
wait for an improved version.
Finance is another issue not addressed. Although there are few subsidies
available for installation, there are very few scattered projects on the ground,
particularly for the industrial sector. Given the limited uptake, the technology
costs are high for these applications. There is also delay in the disbursal of the
subsidy on the part of MNRE/IREDA. Also, there are very few manufacturers of
these systems in India and some components need to be imported, adding to
the cost of the project.
Awareness and knowledge of these applications are limited. The industry
depends mostly on conventional fossil fuel for these uses. They are not aware
of the cost savings of solar thermal and the variants of its uses. This is one of the
major hindrances in the development of solar thermal applications as the
industry views.
The government is not doing enough to promote the solar thermal applications
in the country, especially in industrial sector. It is clearly visible from the fact
that they have no plans of developing any new policies for the promotion of the
same. The existing policies and subsidies themselves have been stopped
expanding. The new Modi government especially is of the opinion that these
technologies should be financially competitive and should not require any
kind of support, particularly in the form of subsidies.
30
3.
The way forward
he attributes and challenges of CSP discussed so far have set the ground
for a possible way forward. Globally, CSP has a bright future. Countries
such as USA, Spain and Israel are shaping the future. India too is
optimistic about CSP and has set very aggressive targets in JNNSM.
But the actual status is that the future of CSP in India is in the doldrums on
account of the lack of a long-term vision. Therefore, we will have to set the
ground right in the first place in the following ways:
Map 2: Solar monitoring stations commissioned under JNNSM
Source: Dr Gomathinayagam, 2013, SRRA component of SolMap project
31
Build data, capacity and confidence

Measure DNI data on the ground
One of the important learnings from JNNSM Phase-I is that we cannot depend
solely on satellite data to measure DNI and prepare project details based on
that. Actual measurements at the project locations are crucial. Ideally, the India
Meteorological Department (IMD) should have commissioned sufficient
monitoring stations to collect and monitor solar irradiance data for the entire
country. But till the recent past, IMD had only 45 ground stations across the
country to monitor solar radiation data and only a few of them had instruments
to measure DNI.1
Realising the limitation of IMD, MNRE authorised the National Institute of
Wind Energy (NIWE), Chennai, to commission monitoring stations all over the
country under the Solar Radiation Resource Assessment (SRRA) projects.
Accordingly, 51 stations were commissioned in 2011 as part of JNNSM Phase-I
and an additional 60 have been commissioned in 2013-14 as a part of JNNSM
Phase-II programme2 (see Table 12: State-wise DNI stations commissioned by
NIWE during JNNSM Phase-I and II and Map 2: Solar monitoring stations
commissioned under JNNSM).
DNI is influenced by several parameters, such as clouds, aerosols and water
vapour, but the effect of aerosol is the highest on DNI.3, 4 Aerosols can be
natural or man-made. Vegetation, ground dust, sandstorms, smoke, industrial
pollutions and volcanic eruptions all comprise these minute particles that are
Table 12: State-wise DNI stations commissioned by NIWE during JNNSM Phases I & II
S.
no.
1
No. of SRRA station

Rajasthan
Gujarat
11
18
Chhattisgarh
Tamil Nadu
19
Pondicherry
Andhra Pradesh
21
Andhaman and Nicobar
Karnataka
22
Arunachal Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
23
Assam
Maharashtra
24
Dadra and Nager Haveli
Madhya Pradesh
25
Kerala
Odisha
27
Manipur
10
West Bengal
28
Meghalaya
11
Bihar
29
Mizoram
12
Jharkhand
30
Nagaland
13
Himachal Pradesh
31
Sikkim
14
Punjab
32
Tripura
15
Chandigarh
33
Uttarakhand
16
Haryana
51
60
Source: NIWE website
32
PhaseI
PhaseII
S.
Commissioned Commissioned no.
12
1
17
No. of SRRA station

Jammu and Kashmir
Total
PhaseI
PhaseII
Commissioned Commissioned
1
2
suspended in the atmosphere. Since the particles vary daily, monthly and
seasonally, measuring DNI for short periods will not give a reliable conclusion.
According to a report by the International Solar Energy Society (ISES), DNI
should be measured over five to 15 years to obtain reliable data.5 However, this
is not practical in the Indian context since the solar monitoring stations have
been commissioned very recently. The best possible solution is to measure the
DNI data for at least one to two years and compare the data with satellite-based
model data to arrive at a correlation.
CSE recommendation 1
CSE recommends that NIWE measures the DNI for two years for each SRRA
stations and compares it with five years of satellite data to evaluate DNI for a
particular location. NIWE should declare these evaluated DNI data for each
location where the SRRA stations were commissioned which becomes the basis
for project design and financial-viability calculations. Based on these timeline,
NIWE should be in a position to declare reliable DNI data for Rajasthan,
Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka by end of 2015. For all
other states, this should be done by the end of 2016.
Build in stages
Development of solar thermal applications
There are several industrial applications of solar thermal systems. It can be
used in the iron and steel, paper and pulp, textile, ceramic and tile, food
processing and dairy (for pasteurisation) industries. Solar thermal energy has
the potential to replace the fuel these industries currently use. However, this
also has to be dealt with in a sustained manner. Tarun Kapoor, joint secretary,
MNRE, speaking in a conference on solar process heat systems said, Solar
thermal applications have not gained acceptance in India because they are not
trusted by the industry, even though they have been working since 1983. There
is no reliability or confidence on the technology as far as perception goes. Dr
Indu Keoti, EcoAxis, which has been monitoring 15 solar thermal applications
projects across India both in the industrial and community context, said that
only industries can maximise the utilisation of the system and ensure that their
investments are recovered.
CSE recommends that in the interim, where solar thermal power generation is
not financially feasible, solar thermal applications for industries should be
promoted by MNRE. This will encourage the manufacturing sector to develop
since there would be a constant demand for them to supply and thereby costs
reduce over time as a result of economies of scale. In addition, these
installations would help reduce the carbon footprint of these industries. This
would act as a perfect transitional phase for the technology it would reduce
cost and develop skills and expertise in this technology rather than remain
theoretical knowledge at the research level.
Promote local manufacturing

India not only has a geographical advantage for the development of CSP, but
the increasing cost of coal and concerns about climate change also make it
33
logical to look into CSP as a future replacement of coal-based thermal power

stations. Owing to the fact that India has a huge potential for CSP, the country
can be the hub for CSP manufacturing in the world. Some critical CSP
components, such as reflective mirrors, molten salt etc., can be produced
locally. The manufacturing processes for them have a high degree of maturity
in the world and there is no requirement of high-level R&D to produce these
components locally.
CSE recommends that the government encourage local manufacturing of CSP
components in India through a domestic content requirement clause and a host
of incentives to set up manufacturing facilities. This will not only reduce the
price of these components significantly, but will also transform India into a
manufacturing hub for CSP with ample job opportunities. It also buys into the
governments idea of Make in India.
Implement demonstration project before scaling up

Internationally, a lot of research is being conducted to understand the optimum
size for CSP with different technologies. With a single turbine and single
condenser, there is potential for saving on costs of equipments and heat loss.
The effectiveness of dry-cooling technology and its impact on CSPs
performance is another critical area of research. Therefore, successful CSP
demonstration projects are vital not only for building the experience curve but
also for developing skilled manpower in the country. This requires special
focus on R&D and human resources together. The proposed demonstration
projects promoted by SECI are positive moves in that direction. Though the
request for selection (RFS) are not out yet, CSE estimates that they are likely to
be commissioned by end of 2018, provided projects are awarded in the
beginning of 2015 and are commissioned within 36 months from the date of
issuance of the letter of intent (LOI). Moreover, 50 MW of Godawari Green
Power, 100 MW Rajasthan Sun Technique promoted by Reliance Power and 50
MW MIEL Green Power all have been commissioned by the end of 2014. These
projects put together make a good ground for successful demonstration as well
as developing a skill base.
CSE believes that MNRE announcing pilot projects with technological
innovations, especially with thermal storage, is a step in the right direction. It
is important that there are projects on the ground which would illustrate that
the technology is performing as per expectations. These projects are also
important for testing components and sub-components of the solar thermal.
CSE believes that this is the first step in the development of any technology.
Use advantages of hybridisation

Hybridisation helps CSP integrate with other thermal-power-generating
sources very easily and allows availability of solar power on demand even
when there is no sunlight. It helps accommodate infirm powers like wind or
solar PV into the grid. In that sense, hybrid CSP plants enhance grid flexibility
and have positive consequences on CSPs cost and performance. It will
contribute to reduction in capital expenditure as well as increase in overall
efficiency of any power plant.
34
CSE recommends that hybridisation be given first preference wherever
possible. Hybridisation is possible where coal-, gas- or biomass-based power
plants already exist with sufficient land for commissioning CSP plants.
Therefore, such possibilities should be identified, particularly in Rajasthan and
Gujarat, so that the full benefit of CSP can be tested and harnessed. CERC
should allow the use of mixed fuel in the case of hybridised CSP plants and
must decide a minimum percentage for solar fuel mix in order to qualify for the
hybridised tariff. CERC also should work out a levelised cost of energy (LCOE)
analysis for such plants.
Reworking existing projects

CSP projects not on the ground
The projects commissioned under JNNSM Phase-I along with the proposed
demonstration projects of SECI will be helpful to gain investors confidence in
CSP technology. Even after the demonstration projects get comissioned, the
sector will be in the phase of development that requires government support.
There are four projects that have not even started construction under the
programme. These projects can be better utilised by the government.
CSE recommends that existing projects that have not yet been commissioned
be cancelled and penalties be levied. Even after deadlines have been extended
twice, the bank guarantees of these projects have not been encashed. The
guarantees should be encashed and used for development of these projects as
demonstration projects. Since the plants would not be coming up in the near
future, they should be divided and re-auctioned.
Resource efficiency is critical

Optimal utilisation of land and water
CSP is land- and water-intensive. Places where DNI is good are dry and water
tables are much below the ground level. Moreover, as CSP works on DNI,
solar rays have to fall perpendicularly on the reflective mirror in order to
concentrate sunrays at the focal point. Therefore land has to be horizontal. The
requirement for both the availabilty of water and horizontal land limit the land
available for CSP.
Places in Rajasthan and Gujarat where most of the CSP plants are likely to
be commissioned are sandy and not suitable for habitations (example,
Thar Desert). However, because land is scarce in India, it has to be
utilised optimally.
Government should declare available lands for CSP projects well in advance in
the public domain based on DNI data actually measured on the ground, land
slope, and groundwater availability for such projects. Since land requirement
for CSP is a function of CUF, which is dependent upon thermal-storage
35
capacity, it is always better to measure land requirement per gigawatt hour

of generation per year rather than measure in terms of installation capacity.
This will make allocation of land technology agnostic within CSP (CSP has
four different technologies) and ultimately push the most efficient
technology suitable for a particular location. The developer would be
responsible for procuring the required land from respective state governments
along with water linkage and for obtaining all necessary clearances before
construction of the project.
36
Features and annexures
37
Overcoming issues one day at a time
On August 13, 2013, Godawari Green Energy Limited (GGEL), a flagship

company of the HIRA group, received the commissioning certificate for a 50MW CSP plant in Nokh Village in Rajasthans Jaisalmer district, 156 km from
the city of Bikaner. The CSP plant, featuring parabolic troughs, began
supplying electricity to the grid on June 5, 2013.
Unlike many other CSP projects, GGEL faced no financial issues. The Bank of
Baroda conducted extensive evaluation of the project before disbursing a loan.
The lenders did have some apprehension since CSP technology in India is
fairly new and there is little experience in setting up plants. The bank
appointed energy consultants Mott MacDonald to scrutinise the project and
based on their evaluation the project was allocated funds.
GGEL managed to address a major problem faced by CSP projects. Developers
of such projects usually complain that lack of reliable DNI data hinders
completion of projects. Information provided by the Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy does not reflect the ground reality. NASA analysis showed
that in 2009, when the plant was allotted to the company, the DNI was 1,950
kWh/m2/day. After the company set up its own station at the site, it was
measured to actually be 1,753 kWh/m2/day. DNI is the amount of solar
radiation received per unit area by a surface perpendicular to the suns rays.
A 50-MW concentrated solar power plant in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

38
Godawari Green uses concentrated sunrays to generate steam to produce power
To compensate for the uncertainty of DNI data, the 50-MW plant increased the
mirror area to harvest more heat energy. An official reports that rather than the
80 loops required (theoretically) for 50 MW of power, the plant put up 120
loops of mirror.
Barely a months delay

Actual commissioning of all CSP projects is required 28 months after the power
purchasing agreement (PA) is signed. But there was a months delay in
commissioning the Jaisalmer plant. This was because the structures had to be
changed to be in tune with the plants location. The parabolic trough structures
required high precision fabrication. Engineering procurement and construction
contractors, Jyoti Structures, took up a major portion of fabrication. This work
took a little more time than anticipated. Developers complain that a
commissioning period of 28 months is overambitious, given the lack of
experience.
Performance so far
The plant has been operating for a year with a Siemens turbine of a rated
capacity of 55 MW. During April 8-10, 2014, the plant was using 47 per cent of
its capacity after 10-12 hours of operation. In May 2014, the plant achieved a
CUF of 29 per cent, the highest recorded so far for the plant. The minimum
generation has been zero in July 1-4, 2014, mostly on account of cloudy days.
The significance of CSP plants is that the generation depends on the clarity of
skies and not on how hot the day is or what the temperature during the day is,
said J.S. Solanki, general manager, GGEL, at the plant site. From January
onwards, the CUF of the plant has been 24 per cent.
39
Godawari Green uses parabolic trough technology to harness solar heat to generate electricity
Given that the plant does not operate for more than 12 hours every day, the
plant heads are planning to add thermal storage to the plant. Sudeep
Chakraborty, director, GGEL, went as far as to say at a recent conference, CSP
Focus India 2014 in July 10-11, 2014, It is a crime to operate a CSP plant
without thermal storage.
The auxiliary consumption of the plant is 11 per cent. The operations team
plans to reduce it to 10.5 per cent in the next quarter, commented
Prakash Marapan, senior manager, Operations, GGEL. This consumption is
higher during winter. During peak winters, the heat transfer fluid (HTF)
freezes in the tubes and anti-freezing pumps have to be used to keep the HTF
flowing. Since the temperature during peak winters goes below zero on some
nights, the start-up time of the plant is affected and lowered the CUF (CUF in
December 2014-January 2015 was below 12 per cent).
One major issue in Jaisalmer is sandstorms because of which the frequency at
which mirrors are cleaned increases. Workers clean 30 loops of mirrors every
day. The plant has hired 50 local workers dedicated to cleaning them. Also, as
recommended by the manufacturers, the mirrors are cleaned with only
demineralised water; 2-2.5 m3 of water is used to clean one loop. The plant has
65 employees, 30 contract workers and 50 people to clean the mirrors.
Essentially, the plant generated employment for 80 local people.
40
Bon apptit with the sun
The brightly lit kitchen in the headquarters of the Brahma Kumaris World
Spiritual University (BKWSU), in Shantivan, 18 km from Mount Abu in
Rajasthan, is filled with aroma of dal and rice boiling in steam cookers.
Lunchtime is an hour away. Chefs in spotless white work in tandem to ensure
that the food is cooked to perfection.
Built in 1998 and spread over 7,000 sq. m, this solar kitchen has over 15 steam
cookers with capacities of 500-1,000 litres and several deep pans for cooking
vegetables. Food is to be served to an impressive 15,000 diners. There are bigger
kitchens but none that runs on solar energy.
Vegetarian meals for 38,000 people can be cooked together in the BKWSU
kitchen, with solar energy generated in the form of steam on the roof of a
building next to the kitchen. The roof, which one reaches after four flights of
stairs, is emblazoned with, Welcome to solar world. It has 84 shining
parabolic concentrators, each a huge dish made of reflecting concave mirrors.
Every dish is 9.6 sq. m and has 520 pieces of special white glass imported from
Germany. They are arranged in pairs, one higher than the other. A rotating
support adjusts them automatically according to the suns position so that the
dishes can reflect and focus maximum sunlight on receivers.
Made of high-grade steel, these receivers are 3 m from the centre of the
concentrators. A strong beam of reflected sunlight from the concentrators heats
up the receiver. The temperature reaches up to 500C at its focal point. The
receivers are attached to pipes running along the row of concentrators.
Receivers heat the water inside the pipes and steam is generated.
Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University in Mt Abu, Rajasthan, has the worlds largest solar kitchen
41
The steam travels through insulated

pipes to the kitchen. The cooking
vessels have perforations at their base to
allow the entry of the steam. The entire
solar installation generates 3.6 tonnes of
steam every day which is used for
preparing food and drink. About 50 kg
of rice can be cooked within 12 minutes.
The kitchen saves around 200 litres of
diesel and 1.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide
emissions in a day. It also saves 184 kg
of LPG every day, says Aneta Loj,
research and development coordinator,
India One Solar Thermal power project
at BKWSU. The kitchen and the roof
The BKWSU kitchen serves meals to 15,000 people every day
have been designed by Switzerlandbased Wolfgang Scheffler, regarded
as the father of solar community kitchens, with BKWSUs renewable
energy department.
BKWSU is also planning to fulfil its electricity needs through solar energy. It is
building a 1-MW solar thermal plant on 22 hectares, using the technology used
in the kitchen. Construction of the project, India One, is underway.
Pieces of mirror fitted on large parabolic metal structures, each 60 sq. m,
constitute a concentrator. About 260 concentrators will be required to generate
enough steam to power 1 MW of turbine to generate electricity. At the centre of
each concentrator a camera will be fitted to monitor whether the focus of the
sunrays on the receiver is accurate. The receiver, in this case, can heat up to
1,200C and is integrated inside a heavy iron drum. The hollow of the drum has
a spiral of heat-exchanger pipes in which water will flow. On heating, the water
will turn into steam, which will be compressed to run the turbine.
A big advantage of this project is that the heat produced can be stored for as
long as 16 hours so that it can be used after sunset to generate electricity. The
stored heat can be 250-450C. We use cast iron to store the heat, informs Loj,
adding, If we combine the storage system, the actual capacity of the plant
becomes 3.2 MW.
According to Loj, the project cost is 25 crore, 60 per cent of which is funded by
corporates. The rest is jointly borne by the Union Ministry of New and
Renewable Energy and the German government, which provided the
technology. Loj says the projects objective was to develop technology suitable
for India. BKWSUs solar thermal power project can be replicated elsewhere in
the country.
42
Annexure 1
The working principle of CSP technology
oncentrated solar power (CSP) is basically a solar thermal technology.

Here the light energy of the sun is concentrated by using reflective
mirrors to generate heat, which in turn produces steam to run a turbine.
The generator coupled with the turbine rotates and produces electricity.
The basic difference between CSP and conventional thermal power station is
that CSP uses sunlight as fuel instead of coal or gas to produce steam
(see Diagram 1: Function of a CSP project). Unlike a solar PV system, which
Diagram 1: Function of a CSP project

Sunlight
Concentrated sunlight
Thermal energy
Mechanical energy
Electricty
Sun
Concentrator
Receiver
Power conversion system
Generator
Source: CSP World www.csp.world.com
can work on direct as well as diffused radiation, CSP can work only with
direct radiation. Therefore, the ideal locations for CSP are the Sun Belt regions,
i.e. regions between 40 degrees north and south of the equator.1 The area
includes areas of the Middle East, North Africa, South Africa, India, southwest
United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Western China, Australia, southern Europe
and Turkey.2
Parabolic trough
Parabolic trough technology uses a curved, mirrored trough which reflects the
direct solar radiation onto a glass tube containing a fluid (also called a receiver,
absorber or collector) running the length of the trough, positioned at the focal
point of the reflectors.3 The collectors track the sun so that its radiation is
continuously focused on the receiver. The temperature can rise up to 400 C.4
Hot liquid is passed through a series of heat exchangers to generate steam and
drive a turbine.
Parabolic trough is the most prevalent and proven technology amongst CSP
technologies.5 Dr Yehuda Harats of EnerT International Ltd, involved in the
first CSP project based in California, opines, Parabolic trough is less sensitive
to variations and fluctuations in DNI than any other CSP technology6 (see
Diagram 2: Parabolic trough technology).
43
Diagram 2: Parabolic trough technology

Parabolic trough
Sunlight
Absorber tube
Reflector
Solar field piping
Cooled fluid
Hot fluid to power plant
Vimal Kumar, President (Projects), Cargo Power & Infrastructure, in charge of a

25-MW parabolic trough with nine-hour storage, says,Fresnel and power
tower technologies are not appropriate for Indian conditions with a lot of dust
and frequent sandstorms to deal with. Parabolic trough has minimum exposure
in such cases and is best suited for India.7
Central tower receiver

The solar power tower is a type of solar furnace using a tower to receive
focused sunlight. A solar furnace uses concentrated solar heat to produce high
Diagram 3: Solar tower technology
Solar power tower
Central receiver
Sunlight
Heliostats
44
temperatures. The focused rays heat water and the plant uses the steam
produced to power through a turbine.
Power towers also reportedly have higher conversion efficiencies than
parabolic trough systems.8 There is considerably less experience in this
technology the world over, which is inferred to be an incomplete
comprehension of many developers of the technical and financial risks
involved with the technology. Technologically, power tower has the maximum
efficiency because it has the ability to achieve higher temperatures at the
collection point when compared to other CSP technologies9 (see Diagram 3:
Solar tower technology).
Linear Fresnel reflector

This technology uses long flat mirrors at different angles to have the effect of
sunlight focusing on one or more pipes. These pipes have heat-collecting fluid
mounted above these angled mirrors. The relative simplicity of this type of
system makes it comparatively cheap to manufacture.10 When compared to other
CSP technologies, Fresnel uses lesser equipment. There is higher equipment
reliability in the system for the same reason. It is also said that the system yields
higher power cycle efficiency and less pumping losses because of the simplistic
nature of the plant. The biggest advantage for Fresnel plants is that it requires
lesser area to operate in comparison to other technologies for the same power
output. Thermal storage in linear Fresnel technology is still in development stage
across the globe11 (see Diagram 4: Linear Fresnel technology).
Diagram 4: Linear Fresnel technology
Receiver pipes
Water as the
working fluid
Su
nli
gh
t
Reflectors
Dish Stirling engine

Dish Stirling technology, dating back to the 1800s, is the oldest solar
technology.12 Solar dish systems comprise a dish-shaped concentrator (like a
satellite dish) that reflects solar radiation onto a receiver mounted at the focal
point. The receiver can be a Stirling engine and generator (dish/engine systems)
or it may be a type of PV panel that has been designed to withstand high
temperatures (CPV systems).13 Dish systems are said to be more suitable for
standalone, small power systems due to their modularity. However, there is no
45
Diagram 5: Dish Stirling technology
Power
conversion
unit
Concentrator
Electricity
reason why the dish systems cannot be mounted in vast numbers in DNI-rich
regions where they could generate large amounts of electricity14 (see Diagram
5: Dish Stirling technology).
CSP technologies use combinations of mirrored concentrators to focus the solar
radiation to receivers that convert the energy into high temperature for power
generation.15 As seen in Diagram 1: Function of a CSP project, thermal energy
of the sun is converted into mechanical energy of turbine to generate power.
46
Annexure 2
The world of CSP
SP is still in a nascent stage of development in the world. There is over

4.6 GW of installed capacity of CSP as on December 2014 the world
over.1
CSP technologies are of four types parabolic trough, linear Fresnel reflector,
solar tower and dish Stirling.
Parabolic trough is the technology that leads, with around 56 per cent of the
projects opting for it. Parabolic trough, linear Fresnel reflector and solar tower
are used mostly for power plants in centralised electricity generation whereas
solar dishes are more appropriate for distributed generation.2 IRENAs
Graph 1: CSP technologies
Power tower 23%
Dish Stirling 5%
Parabolic trough 56%
Linear Fresnel 11%
Note: *As on December 2014

Source: CSP Today
Graph 2: CSP projects

Construction 7%
Commissioning 1%
Planning 15%
Operation 42%
Development 15%
Announced 19%
Note: *As December 2014

Source: CSP Today
47
document on CSP costs assesses that solar towers might become the top choice
for CSP technology in the coming future because solar towers can achieve very
high temperatures with manageable losses using molten salt as a heat transfer
fluid. This permits higher efficiency.3
The leaders in the sector are Spain and USA because of a combination of
availability of resources in the country and the policy support provided
by their respective governments. In December 2014, Spain took the
leading position with respect to installed capacity of solar thermal
power plants.4
The first commercial CSP plant began operating in 1986 a 354-MW plant in
California, 5 although the CSP sector developed and arguably gained
considerable momentum in other parts of the world only post-2005. This
growth is seen mainly in Spain and in southwestern USA predominantly as a
result of favourable policies like Feed-in Tariffs (FiT) and Renewable Portfolio
Obligations (RPOs). The International Energy Agencys CSP Technology
Roadmap details scenarios where the global installed capacity of CSP can
reach up to 1,500 GW, providing 11.3 per cent of global electricity in
hybridised mode (in a combination of solar and backup fuels fossil fuels and
biomass) by 2050.6
The following is a country-specific state of CSP in the world.
Spain
Spain is one of the first countries in the world to introduce FiT for CSP
development. The FiT was fixed at such a level that it made projects bankable
and within two years over 1,000 MW was under various stages of development
in the country.7 As on March 2014, Spain had an installed capacity of 2,285
MW of solar thermal power plants.8 The surge in the CSP market in the world
can be attributed to the strides made in this sector in Spain.
India can learn from Spain about what long-term support for research and
development in CSP technology can do to fully exploit the potential for
improvements in the sector and subsequently reduce the levelised cost of
power. CSP plants in Spain are allowed to generate 10-15 per cent of their
power with natural gas or fuel oil as back up. The fuels maintain the
temperature of the heat storage fluid when solar thermal electricity
production is interrupted. This allows the plant to perform at a higher
capacity-utilisation factor, thus in turn increasing the financial viability of
these projects.
Spain has depicted what effective policy is capable of achieving and will help
policymakers understand the importance of CSP development in the country.
Studies indicate that optimal CSP plants have capacities of 150-250 MW. When
combined with thermal storage, CSP has the ability to serve as a base-load
supplier. For instance, Gemasolar in Spain produces electricity continuously
just like base load nuclear power plants.9 A 19.9-MW plant based on solar
tower technology, it has a molten salt heat storage system.10 Commissioned in
May 2011,11 its annual generation is around 110 GWh of power, enough to
supply electricity to 25,000 homes.12 In Spain, a 50-MW plant with thermal
storage installed provides 2,250 jobs per year from the design phase till
completion of construction. Once in operation, the plant still requires around
50 permanent qualified professionals for proper functioning.13 A study was
48
conducted in the southern region of Spain, which indicated that CSP plants
required less water per hectare than agricultural activities.14
The development of CSP in Spain is attributable to the constant support from
both the public and private sectors for R&D and educational programmes. It is
supported by an effective and supporting regulatory mechanism and
commitment for development on the part of the industry.15
However, issues have arisen in Spain discouraging the CSP market, especially
after recession hit the EU. Since January 2012, Spain has discontinued feed-in
tariffs (FiT) for any new CSP projects. In September 2013, the Energy Minister
also announced a 6 per cent tax on electricity prices received by the
producers, thereby effectively reducing the amount of FiT received.
United States of America

The United States boasts of 38,000 GW of potential concentrating solar power. If
these CSP plants operated at a 20 per cent capacity factor, it would generate
60.19 million kWh annually, equivalent to more than 15 times the total power
generation of 3.90 million kWh in 2013.16 The Sun Belt region of the United
States is one of the largest areas for CSP exploitation; its copious solar radiation
in states like California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, some of Utah,
and Texas could be tapped for CSP-generation plants.17 Eight of the 13 biggest
planned CSP projects in the world will be located in California and Arizona.18
USA has spent 50 years experimenting with the solar thermal power generation
techniques and how to bring the cost of generation down. In April 2008, the
Department of Energy committed US $60 million in funding over the next five
years to support the development of low-cost CSP technology.19 Government
support plays a vital role in the development of new solar technologies. The
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, receives
federal funding to collaborate with private developers to improve costcompetitiveness of many renewable energy products, including CSP, and to
perform high-risk research on systems for CSP plants.20
Nine Solar Energy Generating System (SEGS) plants in southern California
were built by the Luz Company. Construction began in 1984 and operation in
1990. These parabolic trough CSP plants are supported by natural gas and have
a total capacity of 354 MW. They have been generating effectively for over 20
years, with O&M costs declining and annual output increasing over time. This
truly proves trough technology and is a primary reason that most of the new,
large projects are variations of the SEGS technology approach.21
The NREL estimates that approximately 455 construction jobs are created for
every 100 megawatt (MW) of installed CSP.22 According to an analysis by Black
& Veatch, a 100-MW CSP plant would produce 4,000 direct and indirect jobyears in construction compared to approximately 500 and 330 job-years for
combined cycle and simple cycle fossil fuel plants of the same production
capacity, respectively.23
However, there are glitches on the road to development of CSP as well. The
recent boom in cheap exploration of shale gas in the US has become an
impediment for the growth of solar power, particularly CSP. Power producers
have shifted focus to the inexpensive abundant fuel available questioning the
competitiveness of CSP plants.24
49
Middle East new initiatives

According to CSP Today analysis, CSP capacity in the coming five to 10 years
will be about 6 GW.25 After notable contributions from Clean Technology Fund
(CTF), North African countries plan to add 1,120 MW of CSP in the region and
are considered to have one of the most ambitious CSP plans worldwide.26 The
region received US $660 million from CTF.27 One of the Climate Investment
Funds (CIF), CTF provides middle-income countries with resources to scale up
low carbon technologies in the fields of renewable energy, energy efficiency
and sustainable transport.28
Morocco aims to have 2 GW of CSP by the end of 2020. A parabolic trough plant
with a capcity of 160 MW is being constructed by EPC contractor Saudi ACWA
and is planned to be operational by the end of 2015. The country also estimates
that there is an opportunity to create 35,000 jobs with CSP.29 The creation of the
Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy or MASEN and the government support is
one of the reasons why uptake of solar has increased in a short span of time in
Morocco.30 United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced a 1-GW solar park
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum worth 12 billion dirham (US $3.2 billion)
which they hope to complete by 2030.31 Waleed Salman, chairman of Dubai
Supreme Council of Energy, told CSP Today, Out of the 1,000 MW planned,
200 MW would be generated through PV and 800 MW through CSP. However,
the bifurcation has not been officially announced, and the actual installation
might vary. In July 2013, Kuwait started the bidding process for a 50-MW CSP
plant with thermal storage of 10 hours in Shagaya Multi Technology Renewable
Energy Power Park.32
China starting the right way

Dr Ashwini Kumar, managing director, Solar Energy Corporation of India
(SECI), believes, There is cost reduction in any industry when the
manufacturing components and sub-components move to the East India and
China primarily.33
China is committed to developing a capacity of 3 GW by 201534 and 10 GW by
2020.35 Chinese players completely took over the PV market, and drastic
reductions in the cost of solar power resulted. This has led to many antidumping allegations and notifications announced against Chinese
manufacturers in Europe, USA and India. The allegations have made China
shift focus to the CSP sector. Sunny Sun, director (Solar) at CSP Focus said,
China is going slow in deploying CSP. They are currently working on
background research. The emphasis is on resource survey, site selection,
developing a roadmap based on pilot and demonstration/scale
development/commercial deployment route.36
Before formulating the feed-in tariff for CSP, the Chinese governments priority
was to develop support for the manufacturing industry mirrors, heliostat,
receiver, storage and transfer medium, receiver tubes and many other
components and sub-components.37 Many private companies have set up pilot
projects with government support. Another advantage that China has is
cheaper loans available interest rates are around 5-8 per cent as compared to
Indias rate at 13 per cent.
The Chinese are going in the right direction. They have adopted the strategy of
expanding the field of investment while simultaneously focusing attention on
50
the development of markets as well as the absorption of technology from

around the world.38
The first commercial CSP plant a 354-MW plant in California started
operation in 1986.39 But the CSP sector developed and arguably gained
momentum in other parts of the world only post-2005. Growth has been mainly
in Spain and increasingly in south-western USA and is predominantly due to
Feed-in Tariffs (FiT) and Renewable Portfolio Obligations in these countries.
The International Energy Agencys CSP Technology Roadmap details scenarios
where the global installed capacity of CSP can reach up to 1,500 GW, providing
11.3 per cent of global electricity (in a combination of solar and back-up fuels
fossil fuels and biomass) by 2050.40
A lot of the development in this sector was expected to be done by industrial
alliance Desertec Industrial Initiative. The Initiative was intended to harness
primarily the potential of solar and wind in the Middle Eastern and North
African (MENA) deserts. Now, after the global recession, there is uncertainty of
how soon Desertec Foundation can achieve the project detailed out.
CSP technology can prove to be very beneficial in fulfilling the base load
requirements and helping stabilise the grid with influx of various renewablebased power generations.41 This means that CSP can provide power that is
dispatchable and dependable and can meet both the peak and base load.42 AT
Kearney predicted that a best-case scenario of up to 100 GW of global installed
capacity by 2025 would result in the creation of 1,00,000 to 1,30,000 new jobs
potentially, out of which almost 50 per cent would be permanent jobs in
operation and maintenance.43 IPCC 2010s Special report on renewable
energy mentions that CSP emits fewer greenhouse gases over its lifecycle as
compared to PV and wind. Even if we include emissions of thermal storage,
CSP has the advantage since it displaces the emissions from the back-up plants
that would otherwise be needed to balance intermittency.
51
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53
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37.
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39.
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1.
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2.
1.
2.
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Bachao, https://www.bijlibachao.com/solar/solar-water-heater-system-how-can-it-save-energy-and-itsprices-in-india.html, as accessed on January 10, 2015
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Rs 15,000 can be recovered in 2.5 years if the annual savings in Rs 6,250. Similarly, Rs 22,000 can be
recovered in 3.5 years with the same annual savings of energy costs
SOLARWHIN Online Application, Consolidated Statement Statewise Installed By: ALL From 01-08-2007
To 09-01-2015, MNRE, New Delhi
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New Delhi, http://mnre.gov.in/file-manager/UserFiles/Guidelines_domestic_users_of_swh_cost_systems.
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Shirish Garud (May 2008) Solar thermal energy technologies for industrial applications - Indias experience,
Presented at Global Renewable Energy Forum, Brazil 18 to 21 May 2008, http://solarthermalworld.org/sites/
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aboutsec-2/new-initiatives/ as accessed on Oct 14, 2014.
Rajesh Nair (September 2014), Unique Combined Solar Heat and Power (CHP) Steam Generating
Systems, Sun Focus July-September 2014.
Geetanjali Patil Choori (September 2014),An Innovative Parabolic Trough Concentrator Born out of CSP
for Process Heat Applications.
Box: Case study: Solar cooling systems at Mahindra and Mahindra,

Pune
1.
2.
Thermax (Zhejiang) Cooling and Heating Engineering Co. Ltd (2011), Thermax Brings the Solar Edge to
Mahindras Path-Breaking Energy Project, 2011-5-6, http://www.thermax-china.com/en/news.asp?id=
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Box: Chinese example of solar thermal

1.
2.
3.
4.
3.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Apricum (July 13, 2012), Large-scale solar thermal systems for commercial and industrial applications offer
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Eric Martinot and Li Junfeng (March 20, 2008) Powering China's development: The role of renewable
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Barbel Epp (June 27, 2012), Solar Thermal Scales New Heights in China, RenewableEnergyWorld.com,
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January 10, 2015
THE WAY FORWARD

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webinar_2013.pdf as accessed on August 27, 2014.
An aerosol is defined as a colloidal system of solid or liquid particles in a gas. An aerosol includes both the
particles and the suspending gas.
Christian A. Gueymard, President, Solar Consulting Services, Direct Normal Irradiance for CSP/CPV:
Modeling Challenges, http://www.ises-online.de/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/Gueymard-DNI_ISES_
webinar_2013.pdf as accessed on August 27, 2014.
ANNEXURE 1
1.
2.
3.
IEA-ETSAP and IRENA (January 2013), Concentrating Solar Power - Technology Brief.
IEA-ETSAP and IRENA (January 2013), Concentrating Solar Power - Technology Brief.
Anonymous, Parabolic Trough Solar Power Plants, Book CCP Solar Thermal Power Plants: Main
Equipment and Systems, Operation and Maintenance of Solar Thermal Power Plants.
55
4.
Saurabh Kamdar (December 2012), CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory, Risks and Opportunities in securing
Financing Phase-I and Phase-II, National Solar Energy Summit.
5. IT Power (2011), Concentrating Solar Power in India, Dept of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency,
6. Dr Yehuda Harats, EnerT International Ltd speaking at CSP Focus India 2014, New Delhi at July 10-11, 2014.
7. Vimal Kumar, President (Projects), Cargo Power & Infrastructure speaking at CSP Focus India 2014 , New
Delhi at July 10-11, 2014.
8. Gerry Wolff, Beln Gallego, and David Hopwood (2008), CSP concentrates the mind, Renewable Energy
Focus January/February 2008 Edition, UK.
9. Interview with John M. Jacob, Deputy General Manager, Solar Thermal Efficiency, ACME.
10. Gerry Wolff, Beln Gallego, and David Hopwood (2008), CSP concentrates the mind, Renewable Energy
11. Interview with Hem Raj Sharma, Project Director, Reliance 100 MW Linear Fresnel Plant in Dhursar,
Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.
12 Anonymous, Stirling dish power plants, Chapter 5, General technical course manual on Solar Thermal
Power Plants.
13 Gerry Wolff, Beln Gallego, and David Hopwood (2008), CSP concentrates the mind, Renewable Energy
14 Gerry Wolff, Beln Gallego, and David Hopwood (2008), CSP concentrates the mind, Renewable Energy
15 IT Power (2011), Concentrating Solar Power in India, Dept of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency,
ANNEXURE 2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
56
CSP Today (December 2014), Project Tracker Overview, http://social.csptoday.com/tracker/projects/

table?page=3 as accessed on January 23, 2015.
Giorgio Simbolotti (2013), Concentrating Solar Power - Technology Brief, IRENA & IEA-ETSAP.
International Renewable Energy Agency IRENA (June 2012) Renewable Energy Technologies: Cost Analysis
Series: Concentrating Solar Power, IRENA Working Paper, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
NREL (2014), Concentrating Solar Power Projects in Spain, http://www.nrel. gov/csp/solarpaces/by_
country_detail.cfm/country=ES as accessed on March 11, 2014.
SBC Energy Institute (2013), Leading The Energy Transition Factbook Concentrating Solar Power, SBC
Energy Institute, Netherlands.
International Energy Agency (2010), Technology Roadmap Concentrating Solar Power, International
Dr Christoph Richter, Sven Teske and Rebecca Short, Greenpeace International, SolarPACES and ESTELA
(2009), Concentrating Solar Power: Outlook 2009, Europe.
NREL (2014), Concentrating Solar Power Projects in Spain, http://www.nrel.gov/csp/solarpaces/by_
country_ detail.cfm/country=ES as accessed on March 11, 2014.
European Solar Thermal Electricity Association (2012), Debunking Myths About Solar Thermal Electricity
(STE/CSP), Brussels, Belgium.
Torresol Energy (2011), Germasolar, http://www.torresolenergy.com/TORRESOL/gemasolar-plant/en as
accessed on March 14, 2014.
The International Resource Journal (2011), Torresols landmark Gemasolar CSP solar plant is officially
commissioned, May 24, 2011, http://www.internationalresourcejournal.com/resource_news/torresol_s_
landmark_gemasolar_csp_solar_plant_is_officially_comm.html as accessed on March 14, 2014.
Torresol Energy (2011), Gemasolar: how it works, http://www.torresolenergy.com/EPORTAL_DOCS/
GENERAL/SENERV2/DOC-cw4cb709fe34477/GEMASOLARPLANT.pdf as accessed on March 14, 2014.
Dr Luis Crespo (2011), Presentation on Local Manufacturing and Capacity Building in Solar Thermal
Electric Plants The Spanish Experience, at Concentrated Solar Power: Local Manufacturing and Job Creation
Potential In Morocco in July 2011.
US Energy Information Administration (2014), Annual Energy Review, http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/
data/annual/index.cfm#electricity as accessed on February 15, 2014.
CSP concentrates the mind, Desertec, January/February 2008.
Gary Gereffi and Kristen Dubay (2009), Center on Globalization Governance & Competitiveness, Clean
Energy for the Electric Grid, Chapter 4 - Concentrating Solar Power.
US Department of Energy (July 17, 2008). DOE Seeks to Invest up to $60 Million for Advanced Concentrating
Solar Power Technologies, http://www. doe.gov/news/6189.htm as viewed on March 11, 2014.
Gary Gereffi and Kristen Dubay (2009), Center on Globalization Governance & Competitiveness, Clean
Energy for the Electric Grid, Chapter 4 Concentrating Solar Power.
21. Concentrating Solar Power in India, 2011, Dept of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, commissioned by
Australian Government prepared by IT Power.
22. Larry Stoddard, Jason Abiecunas, and Ric O'Connell (2006). Economic, Energy, and Environmental Benefits
of Concentrating Solar Power in California, Overland Park, KS, Black & Veatch.
23. Larry Stoddard, Jason Abiecunas, and Ric O'Connell (2006). Economic, Energy, and Environmental Benefits
of Concentrating Solar Power in California, Overland Park, KS, Black & Veatch.
24. Beatriz Gonzalez (May 2013), The Impact of Shale Gas in CSP development, CSP Today - May 16, 2013,
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March 12, 2014.
25. Beatriz Gonzalez (June 2013), MENA to dominate CSP developments in Q3 and Q4 2013, CSP Today,
http://social.csptoday.com/markets/mena-dominate-csp-developments-q3-and-q42013?utm_source=http%3a%2f% 2fuk.csptoday.com%2ffc_csp_pvlz%2f&utm_medium=email&utm_
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26. Beatriz Gonzalez (July 2013), Facing technical challenges in Middle East and North Africa, July 15, 2013, CSP
Today, http://social.csptoday.com/technology/facing-technical-challenges-middle-east-and-northafrica?utm_source=http%3a%2f%2fuk.csptoday.com%2ffc_csp_pvlz%2f&utm_medium=email&utm_ca
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28. Climate Investment Funds (2014), Clean Technology Fund, https://www.climateinvestmentfunds.org/cif/
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term=MENA+to+dominate+CSP+developments+in+Q3+and+Q4+2013&utm_content=268807, as
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37. Zhifeng Wang, Research infrastructure of CSP in China, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese
Academy of Sciences.
38. John A. Mathews, Mei-Chih Hu, Ching-Yan Wu (March 2013), Concentrating Solar Power Chinas New
Solar Frontier, The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 21, No. 2. May 27, 2013.
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57
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THE STATE OF CONCENTRATED

SOLAR POWER IN INDIA

Centre for Science and Environment

Inner Front Cover

THE STATE OF CONCENTRATED

Research direction: Chandra Bhushan

Citation: Chandra Bhushan, Aruna Kumarankandath and Nayanjyoti Goswami 2015,

2015 Centre for Science and Environment

he launch of Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) on

Table 1: The three phases of JNNSM

Utility grid power, including roof top

THE STATE OF CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER IN INDIA

Graph 1: CSP tariff trend during JNNSM Phase-I bidding

THE STATE OF CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER IN INDIA

Average tariff in India

THE STATE OF CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER IN INDIA

Table 2: CSP plants sanctioned in JNNSM Phase-I, Batch-I

Size and technology

Lanco Solar Diwakar

Land levelling done,

KVK Energy Ventures

Land levelling done,

MEIL Green Power

Source: Compiled by CSE from various sources

THE STATE OF CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER IN INDIA

First demonstration project after JNNSM Phase-I bidding failed

JNNSM Phase-I migration

Source: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

THE STATE OF CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER IN INDIA

New targets for renewables

Table 5: : Increased targets for renewable power

Capacity (in MW)

Source: Finance Ministers speech in Parliament on February 28, 2015

THE STATE OF CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER IN INDIA

Why has CSP not taken off in India?

Does CSP make sense for India?

THE STATE OF CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER IN INDIA

Capacity utilisation factor (CUF)

THE STATE OF CONCENTRATED SOLAR POWER IN INDIA

Table 6: Average CUF achieved in SPV and CSP plants in Rajasthan

Alex Spectrum Radiation Pvrivate Limited

Amrit Energy Private Limited

Azure Power (Rajasthan) Private Limited

CCCL Infrastructure Limted

DDE Renewable Energy Private Limited

Electromech Maritech Private Limited

Finehope Allied Energy Private Limited

Greentech Power Private Limited

Indian Oil Corporation Limited

Khaya Solar Projects Private Limited

Mahindra Solar One Private Limited

Newton Solar Private Limited

Oswal Woollen Mills Limited

Saidham Overseas Private Limited

Unj Lloyd Solar Power Limited

Vasavi Solar Power Private Limited

Godawari Green Energy Limited

Source: MNRE Net Exported Power Summary

Average Solar PV CUF