Table of contents
A. B.
Indian power sector: Overview Indian renewables sector: Overview 2003 Electricity act Solar potential in India
C.
Solar sector
I.
II.
III. IV. V.
D.
E. F.
Executive summary
Indias strong economic growth, combined with countrys industrialization, increasing population and increased access to power has led to rising demand for power in the country
Historically, the supply has consistently lagged the demand in the country by c.10%, and expected to worsen further
Government of India has set very ambitious targets to plug the gap, the big push coming from renewables With the strong commitment from Government, and the various announced incentives, the renewables, particularly solar, presents an opportunity to earn very attractive returns over a longer time frame India has significant potential for generating renewable energy, particularly in hydro, wind and solar This study presents a case for and against investing in the solar sector, identifying the potential returns on offer taking into account the current regulatory framework
Indias rapidly expanding economy is presenting many problems for the Indian Government, not least the fact that around one third of Indians do not currently have access to electricity
Despite making up 17% of the worlds population, India only has a 3% share of the worlds energy consumption
Population growth to further increase energy demand Indias per capita consumption is significantly below other comparable emerging markets, including the world average
Indias consumption per capita of 704 kW/annum is more at par with Philippines than China, which has a consumption per capital of 2,585 kW/annum
(kW / annum)
GDP is closely related to energy production, and insufficient capacity is currently having a negative impact on GDP growth
GDP has grown at rates of between 6.5 9% per year over the past 3 years; the ability to maintain these rates is threatened by the lack of capacity
Demand for energy in India has continually exceeded production capacity; with a peak historic energy shortage of 12.7% in 2009-2010
Despite Governments attempts to improve situation, energy gap has continued to increase
(GW)
(TWh)
To address this gap, the GoI has targeted an expansion of its power capacity to 342GW by 2017 from 209GW currently, through series of 5-year plans
This equates to a yearly addition of approximately 18GW, a projection that was restated in the Governments 5 year plan Main source of power is from thermal power plants (59% of the total installed capacity) Hydro contributes 19%, whilst renewable accounts for 11%, nuclear for 2% and the remaining 9% is held as captive
Originally the expectation of the governments current 5 year plan, covering the period 2007 2012, was to add an additional 93GW of capacity across the period, 15% of which was to be generated from renewable sources If the Government is to come close to meeting this target in the near future, renewable energy technologies will play a major role in making it possible
(GW)
Excluding large hydro projects, renewable energy generation currently makes up 11% of generating capacity in the country (c.23GW) Government targets to set up 74GW of renewable energy by 2022
Implies that c.51GW of renewable energy capacity needs to be added over the next ten years
Governments commitment to the sector can be seen via its recent performance as shown in the below table:
Technology Target for 2011-12 Achievement during the month of Jan-12 Achievement during 2011-12 MW % of total
Wind
Small Hydro Biomass
2,400
350 460
101
48 25
2,023
258 146
16,179
3,300 1,143
70%
14% 5%
Bagasse
Solar Waste to Energy Total (MW) 200 25 3,435
20
292 1 486
285
446 1 3,159
1,953
481 74 23,130
8%
2% 0.3% 100%
State-wide RPOs require states to purchase up to a minimum of 10% of annual energy requirements from renewable sources by 2012
Source: Note:
2003 Electricity Act introduced a number of reforms to the Indian power market, essentially opening up the electricity market up to the private sector These changes included: removing the requirement to obtain a license to set up a generation plant providing more open access to the transmission networks, and, introducing competition for the distributors by providing open access to consumers Under the legislation electricity generators can either sell to the local State Electricity Board under a 15-20 year PPA or negotiate custom PPAs with industrial customers Merchant contracts tend to be shorter in duration (5-10 years) but are usually much more lucrative The state and central government sectors dominate the market in terms of ownership of power generating assets However, since the liberalization of the energy markets, the private sector has grown from 11% to presently c.21%
Broker research reports.
Source:
India presents a great potential for solar power India receives solar energy equivalent to over 5,000 trillion kWh per year, far more than its total energy consumption Daily average solar energy incident varies from 4 - 7 kWh per sq. m. depending on the location and time of the year
Irradiation data suggests that 0.5% of Indias land area under solar PV could meet all electricity needs of the country in 2030
Rajasthan and north Gujarat receive highest annual radiation with over 6 kWh/sq meter Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh receive radiation of 5-6 kWh/sq m
But, still comparable to European countries with a high solar installations, such as Spain and Italy
MNRE website, PV Group and broker research reports.
Source:
Launched in Jan 2010 by honorable Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, JNNSM is a major initiative of the Government of India and State Governments to establish India as a global leader in solar energy Aims to install 20GW of solar capacity by 2022 in addition to 2,000 MW of offgrid solar power Mission will adopt a 3-phase approach:
Phase 1: Spanning the remaining period of the 11th Plan and first year of the 12th Plan (up to 2012-13) Phase 2: remaining 4 years of the 12th Plan (201317) Phase3: 13th Plan (201722)
Application segment Solar collectors Off grid solar Applications Utility grid power, including roof top Target for Phase I (2010-13) 7 million sq meters 200 MW 1,000 - 2000 MW Target for Phase 2 (2013-17) 15 million sq meters 1,000 MW 4,000 - 10,000 MW Target for Phase 3 (2017-22) 20 million sq meters 2,000 MW 20,000 MW
Proposed roadmap:
S. No. 1. 2. 3.
First batch of projects allotted for Phase 1 included 150 MW of Solar PV and 470 MW of Solar Thermal
MNRE website, Wikipedia.
Source:
Feed-in-tariffs (FiT)
Preferential FiTs offered to renewable energy plants connected to state electricity grids PPAs signed for long period ensuring reduced risk and easier to forecast revenue stream Considers the cost of capital and aims to provide a high per-tax equity IRR Successfully implemented in various European countries Provided to support power projects connected to distribution grid of state utilities Maximum amount of GBI applicable for a solar project determined after deducting PPA rate (signed with state utility) from a notional amount of Rs. 17.91 per kWh CERC reference tariff of Rs. 5.5 per kWh implies a GBI of Rs. 12.41 per kWh for solar 80% accelerated depreciation during the initial years of operation, providing effect to substantial tax benefits and strong cash flow profile In parallel with the GBIs in a mutually exclusive manner Option to either avail accelerated depreciation or GBI, but not both Project developers applicable for a 10 year tax holiday However, a minimum alternate tax (MAT) of 18.5% applicable during the period, as compared to the corporation tax rate Gencos can opt for feed-in-tariff revenue structure or the REC structure Incentives of 1 REC per MWh which can be sold in the open markets Solar REC banding fixed at Rs. 12 per kWh Rs. 17 per kWh Carbon credits issued by the Clean Development Mechanism board for emissions reduction achieved under the rules of Kyoto Protocol Developed western markets but Indian markets are still far behind
Accelerated depreciation
Long term PPAs offers a predictable and stable cash flow profile, emphasizing the low risky nature of the sector
With the world economies focusing on carbon free environment, the need for renewables becomes more strong
Sector strongly backed by the GoI, underlined by various incentives offered aimed at providing high IRRs High EBITDA and Net income margins, characterized by low working capital, supports the financial case for renewables Oversupply and severe competition among solar component providers pushing costs down Oversupply and severe competition among solar component providers pushing costs down
Government support
High margin Reducing costs Abundant supply
Strongly reliant on Government, which has been marred with red-tapism and criticized for slow pace of reforms
Cash constrained and highly leveraged IPPs may find it difficult to cope with the slow and infrequent payments from the State Electricity Boards
High levels of debt on Government as a result of funding renewable subsidies can lead to reduction in incentives, as is currently the case with various European economies Despite various technological achievements in the sector, the initial setting up costs of solar plants is still very high, with grid parity levels still far from reality
In December 2010 the GoI announced the winners of its first solar auction with around 610MW awarded to 35 winners Auction had bids for c8.0x the capacity offered c.470MW of total capacity was solar thermal, whilst the remainder was solar PV First auction widely criticized due to small size of the projects (maximum of 5MW) irrational bidding, largely due to the auction rules, whereby project developers that were offering to sell electricity at the cheapest rates were selected In August 2011 the GoI invited companies to register for the second national auction to award licenses to build 350MW of solar PV by 2013 Some modifications made to the rules and guidelines, including, maximum size of each project increased from 5MW to 20MW, and each bidder could win as much as 50MW of total capacity In December 2011, MNRE announced generation based incentives (GBI) of Rs. 12.41 per kWh
Quantum of GBI is kept fixed, as a difference of the CERC tariff (Rs. 17.91 per kWh) and a reference tariff of Rs. 5.5 per kWh
Source:
Solar Photovoltaic (PV) is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect Employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material Materials presently used for photovoltaics include monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, cadmium telluride, and copper indium gallium selenide/sulfide PV panels based on crystalline silicon modules encountering competition by thin-film based solar panels, which are relatively cheaper but less efficient
Wikipedia and web.
Source:
In solar thermal energy plants, solar radiation is concentrated by mirrors or lenses to obtain higher temperatures a technique called Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Solar thermal panels transfer the sun's heat, as opposed to generating electricity Most popular application is to heat water, which then subsequently generates electricity
Wikipedia and web.
Source:
PPA tariff:
70:30
13.4% 10 years MAT @ 18.5% (1st 10 yrs) 34% thereafter
Return on Equity
Construction period Depreciation O&M expenses % of sales O&M expenses escalation Interest on W.C.
15%
18 months 7.0% (1st 10 yrs) 1.3% thereafter 10.0% 2.0% 12.89%
Key financials
Sensitivity analysis
Equity value sensitivity to IRR and Capex / MW Equity value sensitivity to CUF and IRR
Capex / MW
Capex / MW
Capex / MW
Target IRR
PPA tariff:
70:30
13.4% 10 years MAT @ 18.5% (1st 10 yrs) 34% thereafter
Return on Equity
Construction period Depreciation O&M expenses % of sales O&M expenses escalation Interest on W.C.
15%
18 months 7.0% (1st 10 yrs) 1.3% thereafter 10.0% 2.0% 12.89%
Key financials
Sensitivity analysis
Equity value sensitivity to IRR and Capex / MW Equity value sensitivity to CUF and IRR
Capex / MW
Capex / MW
Capex / MW
Target IRR
Concluding remarks
The Government commitment and current regulatory framework presents an attractive opportunity in the Indian renewables space
As can be seen with the above cases, the solar sector offers high rates of return in the current scenario
Evidently solar thermal, with better capacity utilization factors and lower cost of construction, seems to offer better rate of return
With the rising global competition among solar component manufacturers and, thus, the oversupply, the prices of solar PV have gone down significantly and presents an opportunity for outperformance
However, high reliance on Government and the slow pace of reforms, as evidenced by the past performance, is in itself one of the biggest inherent risks Thus, as with any other sector, solar sector comes with a mixed bag of pros and cons, but the recent rush from private equity players to develop the renewable energy sector says something more about the positive side of the story