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Background:

This event was organised to share the transformation witnessed in the Indian rooftop solar (RTS) journey so far and to showcase the efforts and contributions of key stakeholders working in unison in India for successful RTS implementation. The key takeaways from this event certainly assisted empowering international collaborations leading to better implementation across nations.

The rooftop solar sector is one of the most popular sources of distributed renewable energy (DRE), characterised by its highly empowering and inclusive nature, transforming consumers into “prosumers”, thereby making them highly active stakeholders of the energy ecosystem.

India has taken up solar in a big way, with the adoption of a highly ambitious targeted approach by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). To develop the rooftop sector, meticulous planning was required on multiple fronts, be it formulation of policies and regulations, building the capacity besides the much needed awareness creation. This warranted a multi-pronged but concerted effort from key stakeholders such as regulators, government bodies, multilateral developmental agencies, consultants, investors, lenders, developers, consumers etc.

MNRE, in its implementation strategy to achieve the ambitious target of 100 GW solar by 2022, out of which rooftop segment target is 40 GW, emphasized on uniform policy and regulations, payment security mechanism, digitization of processes, demand aggregation, transparent and standardized bidding environment and enforcement of RPOs. To unlock the huge potential in the residential rooftop solar sector as well and to incentivise the utilities for their critical role, MNRE launched the USD 1.6 bn incentives based Phase-II of RTS programme in early 2019.

To support the path laid by MNRE and to enable a holistic development of the ecosystem and in the light of challenges constraining rooftop solar installations and to rejuvenate the sector, the World Bank extended a concessional credit line of USD 625 Mn to State Bank of India (SBI) to finance rooftop solar projects in India. So far, SBI has sanctioned USD 228 Mn, disbursed USD 166 Mn for a portfolio capacity of more than 432 MW projects in C&I segment.

To ensure that the credit line results into successful installation of rooftop solar systems, the World Bank also launched a $12.93 million technical assistance program in mid 2017, enshrined SUPRABHA1. SUPRABHA has been enabling of the stakeholder ecosystem of rooftop solar through several key interventions viz., Policy & Regulatory, Capacity Building, Demand Aggregation, Process Streamlining and Media & Outreach.

The side event featured MNRE, the World Bank, the State Bank of India, and state energy department and DISCOMs and SUPRABHA team who shared their rich experience and discussed the key interventions that enabled Indian rooftop solar sector witness 5.5 GW installations along with the success footprints on this enriching journey.

Objectives of the Session

  1. To showcase the efforts and contributions of key stakeholders working in unison in India for successful rooftop solar implementation
  2. To highlight takeaways which can lead to fruitful international discussions and better implementation across nations
  3. To invite suggestions and collaborations which can add value to the Indian rooftop solar ecosystem

READ MORE ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

About the Organizers

The Sustainable Partnership for Rooftop Solar Acceleration in Bharat (SUPRABHA) is a USD 13 million program, led by The World Bank and SBI and implemented in partnership with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). SUPRABHA offers Technical Assistance to 17 Partner States allocated by MNRE (Assam, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, and Delhi) towards establishing an enabling ecosystem for accelerated deployment of grid-connected Rooftop Solar. The EY consortium (Team Lead – Ernst&Young, IDAM, EVI, GSES, SCGJ & Edelman) was appointed as project consultant to lead the activities under the program. SUPRABHA’s key interventions include Policy & Regulatory, Capacity Building, Demand Aggregation, Process Streamlining, and Media & Outreach. SUPRABHA’s sustained efforts on all aspects of demand aggregation from formulating bidding documents, outreach, and post-bid support have led to the aggregation of 340 MW of capacity through online and onsite assessment of 3800 sites across 11 states out of which 185 MW has been successfully tendered. Other achievements and key milestones include the launch of Model Regulations for Rooftop Solar 2019, the framework for credit guarantee mechanism for MSMEs, training of over 1500 key stakeholders, development of Unified Web Portal for States for streamlining the process of rooftop solar interconnection and disbursement of subsidy, etc.

Point of Contact:

Nithyanandam Yuvaraj Dinesh Babu, Ernst&Young
Email: Yuvaraj.Dinesh@in.ey.com


About SUPRABHA : The Sustainable Partnership for Rooftop Solar Acceleration in Bharat (SUPRABHA) is a USD 13 million program which is led by The World Bank and SBI and implemented in partnership with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). SUPRABHA offers Technical Assistance to 17 Partner States allocated by MNRE (Assam, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Delhi) towards establishing an enabling ecosystem for accelerated deployment of grid connected Rooftop Solar. The EY consortium (Team Lead – Ernst&Young, IDAM, EVI, GSES, SCGJ & Edelman) was appointed as project consultant to lead the activities under the program. SUPRABHA’s sustained efforts on all aspects of demand aggregation from formulating bidding documents, outreach and post-bid support have led to aggregation of 340 MW of capacity through online and onsite assessment of 3800 sites across 11 states out of which 185 MW has been successfully tendered.