Bhubaneswar: With Odisha’s present renewable energy (RE) policy going to end at the end of 2022, the stakeholders at a meet proposed to set a target of RE production of 30 GW by 2030.
The International Forum for Environment, Sustainability & Technology (iFOREST) on Tuesday organised the conference in Bhubaneswar to start a dialogue on the state’s new RE policy for 2022-30.
The present policy, introduced in 2016, had set a modest target of installing 2,750 MW of RE capacity by 2022. But, as of March 2022, only 617 MW has been installed, which is less than 25% of the target. The state is largely depending on coal to meet its energy requirement.
So far, Odisha has been importing renewable energy like solar and wind power from other states to meet its Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) set under the Central government guidance. The RPO target of Odisha for 2022-23 is 11.5%. This means that 11.5% of electricity consumed in Odisha in 2022-23 has to be renewable energy. This target will increase to 43.33% by 2029-30.
“Scaling up renewable energy installations in Odisha is essential for sustainable development and climate change mitigation. There is a general misconception that Odisha doesn’t have RE potential. Our analysis shows that Odisha has large RE potential that needs innovative policy to unlock,” said Chandra Bhushan, President & CEO, iFOREST at the conference.
He further said given the newly notified RPO target of 43.33 per cent by 2029-30, the state has the options to either install RE plants or buy from other states. “We think Odisha has a lot to gain by installing RE plants. Therefore, we have proposed that the focus of the new RE policy should be ‘30 GW Renewable Energy by 2030,” he added.
Earlier, iFOREST had undertaken detailed analysis of the RE sector in Odisha and organised seven focused group discussions on the new RE policy, in which over 60 stakeholders from industry, NGOs and government had participated.
Tuesday’s event saw large participation from government departments and agencies, public and private sector companies, NGOs and sector experts.
