Pursuing Clean Energy Business in India
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Pursuing Clean Energy Business in India cleantech AustralAsia Pursuing Clean Energy Business in India This project was endorsed by the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP) Renewable Energy and Distributed Generation Task Force (REDGTF) and received funding contribution from the Australian Government. Contacts for this Project: Peter Castellas Managing Director Cleantech AustralAsia Telephone: +614 1234 0063 [email protected] www.cleantechnology.com.au Erin Iping Kuo Director - India Cleantech AustralAsia Telephone: +91 22 6707 8761 [email protected] Cleantechnology AustralAsia © 2008 Acknowledgements The lead authors of this report would like to thank the Finally we wish to acknowledge that this report represents Australian Commonwealth Government Department of the the views of a cross section of the private and public Environment , Water, Heritage, and the Arts for funding sector. The contributions were given with a generous spirit contributions, guidance, and support for this project. In as many of the leaders in the renewable energy industry particular we would like to thank John Jende, Tania Maras recognise that we have an urgent need to accelerate and Gerry Morvell. We are appreciative of the support and investment and deployment of Renewable Energy to commitment given from other members of the Asia Pacific address climate change and that improved knowledge Partnership on Clean Development and Climate under the sharing, new partnerships, and collaborations are vital. We Renewable Energy and Distributed Generation Task Force, hope the strategic actions recommended in this report can and are indebted to Mr V. Subramanian from the Indian help to better connect the key stakeholders and achieve Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for his the aims of the APP. generous time, advice and guidance. Our partner in this project The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) were also significant contributors and we would like to thank Dr Peter Castellas, Amit Kumar, Mahesh Vipradas, and Shirish Garud, for their Managing Director, research, time, and dedication. We would also like to Cleantech AustralAsia acknowledge the invaluable contribution from our colleagues at Cleantech AustralAsia, Jeff Castellas Erin Iping Kuo, and Adrian Asfar. Director, Cleantech AustralAsia Additionally, this report would not have been complete without the generous research and data contributions from: Paul Curnow and Lily Mathews at Baker & McKenzie, Chris This project received funding from the Australian Greenwood and Krishnan Shakkottai from New Energy Government as a part of the Asia-Pacific Partnership Finance, Dr GM Pillai at World Institute for Sustainable on Clean Development and Climate. Energy, Alex Birrell and Jocelyn Dussuyer from Disclaimer: PricewaterhouseCoopers and Somak Ghosh, Kingshuk This report is not intended to be used as a tool for basing final investment decisions upon but is intended to provide an introduction to some of the potential barriers for the development of Chakraborty and Kartik Ramachandran from renewable energy sector in India. The authors, along with contributors and agents, are released Yes Bank Limited. from and indemnified against all actions, claims and demands which may be instituted against the authors arising out of this report. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors at the time of writing are not attributable to any other party. Every effort has been made to correctly attribute sources of information. No responsibility is taken for incorrect attributions which We would also like to thank the numerous organisations may have inadvertently occurred. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the and leading individuals from the renewable energy industry Commonwealth, and the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for any information or and who participated in consultations and case studies. advice contained herein. We also extend thanks to all those who participated in our on-line survey for their time, views and insights. A complete list of organizations who participated in the survey and consultations may be found in Appendix A of this report. Table of Contents 1 Executive Summary 1 2 Scope, Methodology and Objectives of this Project 9 2.1 Support for the Project 9 2.2 Project Aims 9 2.3 Scope and Methodology 9 2.4 Strategic Action Plan and Recommendations 9 3 Renewable Energy in India 10 4 Drivers for Growth of Renewable Energy in India 12 5 Indian RE Policy and Regulatory Environment 14 6 Solar PV 15 7 Solar Thermal 16 8 Wind 17 9 Small Hydroelectric Power 18 10 Biomass Power and Cogeneration 19 11 Waste to Energy 20 12 Other – Tidal and Geothermal 21 13 Financing RE in India 22 13.1 Global Investment Trends 22 13.2 Indian RE Investment Asset Classes 22 13.3 R&D financing 23 13.4 Micro VC 25 13.5 Venture Capital (VC) 26 13.6 Private Equity (PE) 27 13.7 Project Finance 28 13.8 Corporate Finance 29 14 Findings 30 14.1 Results – barriers 30 14.2 Results - Actions 33 15 Conclusions 35 15.1 Policy 35 15.2 Technical 35 15.3 Financial 36 15.4 RE Market Information 37 15.5 Opportunities for Collaboration: Australia/India 38 16 Strategic Action Plan 41 16.1 Accelerator: Create a favourable policy environment for increased investment and deployment of RE technologies 41 16.2 Accelerator: Improve scale of technology uptake and deployment 42 16.3 Accelerator : Increase innovation in the finance and investment sector 42 16.4 Accelerator : Improve RE market knowledge across all RE stakeholder groups 43 16.5 Accelerator : Expand Australia/India commercial collaboration on RE 43 1. Executive Summary 1. Executive Summary Accelerating the investment in and deployment of 2. Subsidies for conventional fuel sources (such as coal) renewable energy (RE) technologies in India will significantly cause price distortions and disadvantages for RE help to address the challenge of global climate change, technologies. promote economic development and reduce poverty. 85% Agree 3. The legal/regulatory environment is weak or unclear But for clean energy technologies to have a tangible and creating uncertainty for RE investors and developers. enduring impact, there are policy, technical and financial 69 % Agree barriers that must be overcome. Governments and the 4. RE technology-specific barriers (such as intermittent private sector must work together, and act decisively, to supply, low conversion efficiencies and storage recognise these barriers and implement actions and problems) affect the economic feasibility of RE projects. solutions to overcome the barriers that lead to accelerated 74% Agree uptake of RE and DG. 5. There is a lack of early stage debt and equity financing This project was endorsed by the Asia-Pacific Partnership for innovative RE companies seeking to commercialise on Clean Development and Climate (APP) Renewable their technology. Energy and Distributed Generation Task Force (REDGTF) 73% Agree and received funding contribution from the Australian 6. Small and medium RE project developers find it Government. The aims of the project were to identify the difficult to obtain capital from financial institutions barriers and opportunities to accelerated investment in the at affordable rates. development and deployment of RE technologies in India 62% Agree and to determine areas of enhanced collaboration between 7. A lack of financiers experienced in dealing with the risk APP partner nations; in particular profile of RE projects affects the successful financing of Australia and India. new projects. 73% Agree Findings 8. There is a lack of RE industry information (such as The findings presented here are a summary of results successful case studies and investment grade data) from a survey and consultations with over 200 RE avail able to investors, financiers, developers and professionals and offer a contemporary snapshot of policy makers. appropriate near term actions that could be implemented 73% Agree to accelerate the uptake of RE in India. 9. There is a general lack of awareness and skills to develop RE technologies and projects amongst The main findings of the survey and consultations financiers, investors, policy makers, developers and identified the following barriers: consumers. 68% Agree There is a need for clear consistent long-term 1. 10. There is a general lack of understanding of Indian government RE policies to guarantee investment busi ness culture and how to build partnerships certainty and RE project viability. and trust. 95% Agree 70% Agree 1 Barriers Potential Solutions to Overcoming Barriers 1. Policy 1. Policy Guide 2. Price Distortions 2. Innovative Finance 3. Legal / Regulatory 3. Early Stage RE Fund 4. Techno - economic 4. Techno Mapping 5. Early Stage Finance 5. Capacity Building 6. Obtaining Capital 6. Forums, Workshops 7. Risk Profile 7. Incubator 8. Industry Info 8. Business Matching 9. Capacity / Skills 9. Standardize 10. Culture Barriers 10. Finance Guide 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Percent Response Percent Response Strongly Agree or Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree N/A Disagree or Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree or Agree Neither Agree nor Disagree N/A Disagree or Strongly Disagree The major findings when seeking solutions to overcoming the barriers were identified as: 1. Develop a best practice renewable energy policy guide, 6. Run RE investor workshops/meetings to connect RE including a catalogue of successful case studies for investors and project developers/entrepreneurs. APP partner countries. 85% Agree 80% Agree 7. Establish a RE incubator program and more 2. Develop more innovative financial products and international R&D collaborative models to fast track financing mechanisms (such as low interest loans commercialisation of RE technologies. for start-up companies and small-scale RE projects, 82% Agree RE project risk insurance, RE project bonds, RE 8. Undertake targeted RE business missions between mezzanine financing etc). APP partner nations. 90% Agree 66% Agree 3. Establish an early stage RE fund to fill the funding 9. Standardise protocols and procedures in India for RE gap between innovation and commercialisation.