KPMG has released a report stating that by 2020 solar power in
India could cost about 10% less than coal power, saying “Solar power
price declines have beaten the expectations of most analysts since the
beginning of 2015. In the ongoing NTPC solar park tender, solar prices
have breached the INR 5/kwh and this is a landmark for the energy
sector. Today, in India, solar prices are within 15% of power prices on a
levelized basis. Our forecast is that by 2020, solar power prices could
be up to 10% lower than coal power prices.” You can read the full
report, titled ‘The Rising Sun – Disruption on the Horizon‘ here.
2020 is not that far away, and if it does come to pass that solar power
is cheaper than electricity generated by coal in just a handful of years
in such a huge country that consumes tremendous quantities of the
stuff, it certainly would be quite a milestone. “We need to re-engineer our process to create energy efficiency and
conservation to give India an affordable energy access. A holistic
vision is the need of the hour in order to reach 200 million people at a
faster rate. I am personally convinced that any amount of investment in
this sector will have a quick pay back,” explained energy minister Piyush Goyal.
We’ve already seen that solar power in Chile
can be cheaper than electricity produced by coal. Who is paying
attention to these developments though? Critics and cynics could
say that Chile is a nation of only 17 million with exceptional solar
power potential, and therefore is not indicative of a larger solar power
trend.
However, India’s population is 1.25 billion, so it can not be
dismissed as too small to count. In fact, its population is several
times that of US, and India doesn’t have the same wealth
or technological development. The US should be able to achieve something
along similar lines, if India can in five years.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that naysayers were saying grid parity
wasn’t possible with renewables – especially for solar power. Now, it
seems we are moving towards a reality where solar power could be cheaper
than coal power, in some cases.
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/11/17/solar-prices-10-less-coal-india-2020/
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