The future of Indian Concentrating Solar Power

As we move into 2012 the progress made in phase I of India’s National Solar Mission has been a subject of widespread debate, leaving many industry experts questioning the future of concentrated solar power in India. While many are quick to point out that projects must begin construction if they are to meet their 2013 completion deadline, others have seen the continued growth in capacity as a sure sign that CSP will remain a dominant part of India’s renewable energy programme.

The future of government subsidies, increasing competition from photovoltaic’s and the financing of projects in phase II, as well as the ability to build the critical foundations needed for a local manufacturing base, are at the centre of securing the future of Indian CSP. In addition to this the shortcomings of India’s reverse bidding process in phase I has led many international experts to question whether the aggressive prices for projects can be upheld by plant developers.

To debate these critical industry challenges in greater depth, CSP Today has organized a free to attend webinar, taking place on Wednesday 1st February at 9.30am GMT (3.00pm IST). During this one hour interactive session, Dhruv Batra of Cargo Power & Infrastructure, Jose Luis Sanchez, Global Head Thermosolar Business Development at Lanco Solar and Jordi Castella from Grupo Proener will debate and discuss these critical topics:

The Outlook for India CSP: Consider the impact of phase I on market growth looking at future government subsidies, PV competition, financing and CSP’s tender ahead of Phase II

Project Development and Progress: Drill down into the project development challenges unique to India and see how financial, technical and infrastructural challenges have been overcome

Indianization: See if the critical foundations have been laid in phase I to build a ‘local’ manufacturing base in India to create jobs and increase support for CSP

Jack Ahearne, Event Director at CSP Today said ‘in the initial launch of India’s national solar mission there was an ambitious target of installing 20GW of Solar by 2022, with an emphasis on building a local manufacturing supply chain and creating jobs. However, to date it is clear that more needs to be understood on how to utilise the country’s resources. We are looking forward to kick starting the discussion on how the future of Indian CSP can be secured with the webinar which is free to anyone to attend’.

The webinar can be joined for free at https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/953714566 and with limited spaces available it is advise that you sign-up early.

The programme is part of the preparation for the 3rd CSP Today India Summit, which is taking place 14-15 March in New Delhi.

More information about both the webinar and the event can be found at www.csptoday.com/india