PDF: 2962 pages, 5.2 MB - Bay Area Council Economic Institute

Energy/Environment/Clean Technology
The government’s National Action Plan on Climate Change, rolled out in June 2008, lists solar
energy as one of eight long-term priority missions for addressing India’s energy needs as well as
global climate change. The plan outlines a program for government R&D funding, demonstration
projects, support for new manufacturing capacity, training, and integration of research nationwide,
toward a goal of establishing 1,000 megawatts of solar grid power and 1,000 megawatts
annually of photovoltaic cell production for domestic energy consumption by 2017.
Domestic and multinational semiconductor firms are diversifying their product lines to include
thin-film solar panels based on related technology. Moser Baer Photo Voltaic (MBPV) plans to
increase its annual production capacity fifteen-fold over 2008–10, from 40 megawatts to 600
megawatts. MBPV and has signed a silicon wafer sourcing agreement with China’s LDK Solar, entered
into an equipment partnership with Applied Materials in Santa Clara, and taken equity stakes
in specialized Bay Area startups, including: SolFocus, a Mountain View developer of concentrator
photovoltaic (CPV) thin-film panels; Solaria, a Fremont CPV module designer; and Stion Corp.
(formerly nStructures), a San Jose nanomaterials startup focusing on solar photovoltaics.
Domestic government support for wind power dating back to the 1990s has provided India
with the world’s fourth largest installed wind generation capacity (behind Germany, Spain and
the U.S.) of about 7,660 megawatts. The country’s wind generation potential has been estimated
at 45,000 MW. Most wind power is currently generated in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Gujarat, and Rajasthan. About half of the total capacity has been built by a single Indian
company, Suzlon Energy.
In 1995, Suzlon was established with 20 employees by Tulsi Tanti, the owner of a textiles company
who first bought and installed two windmills to lower his power costs and then began
building the systems himself. Suzlon now has a global workforce of 13,000 and holds a 10.5%
share of the global wind generation equipment market.
Efforts at biofuel development in India have focused largely on three areas: rural electric power
derived from gasification of farm and human waste; methane capture from coal mines, landfills,
oil and gas wells, and agriculture; and jatropha-based biodiesel fuel. With much of rural India still
heating and cooking with wood, kerosene, dung, and crop wastes, and using inefficient stoves
and heaters, efforts are underway to either displace those sources with cleaner energy or make
traditional methods more efficient.
The Biomass Energy for Rural India (BERI) project, successfully completed in 2006, provides a
public-private model now being replicated around the country. Some examples:
• The Haryana State Renewable Energy Development Agency signed a $745 million deal
with seven independent power producers to build 21 biomass and four wind projects
that will supply state utilities with a combined 686 megawatts of power beginning in
mid-2009.
• Green Planet Energy Pte. Ltd., a joint venture of Indian agribusiness and renewable
energy firms, signed a $227.3 million agreement with Punjab Agro Industries Corp. to
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