Land acquisition and clarity on project pipeline are the biggest challenges that developers of solar power projects face today, even as finding financiers and skilled manpower still remain issues.
These difficulties were highlighted in a panel discussion at Solarcon India 2011, an international conference of the solar power industry, here on Thursday.
Clarity on how many solar projects would be put up for bidding each year in the coming few years is something that the developers find important. “Visibility for (even) 2012 is just not there,” said Mr Pasupathy Gopalan of SunEdison, a US-based company that has a clutch of projects in Gujarat and Rajasthan. “We have recruited over 200 people,” he said, wondering what the company would do with them after the on-hand projects are completed.
Agreeing with co-panelist, Mr Alan Rosling of Kiran Energy, Mr Gopalan said project visibility was crucial to attract investors.
Mr Gopalan said while the Government had done a “fantastic job of managing subsidies”, ensuring that the outgo from the exchequer was kept at the minimum, he would urge the policy makers to think in terms of the next 3-5 years.
Land acquisition was flagged as a major issue that requires policy intervention. SunEdison has nine projects underway in India. “Each of the nine projects has enormous land issues,” Mr Gopalan said.
It is a sore point with the developers that while there is a deadline for completion of the projects, with stiff penalties for failure, there are issues, such as land and linkage to the grid, over which they have no control.
Mr Srini Nagabhairava of AES Solar recalled that he had raised these points at Solarcon India 2009, and pointed out that over the two years the challenges haven't changed.
While agreeing that land was a big issue, Mr Vish Palekar of Mahindra Solar, struck a different chord saying the issue could be tackled by “social and local inclusiveness”.
Beside securing funding and finding and keeping talent, some developers noted that the credibility of the engineering, procurement and construction contractor was crucial in convincing bankers to fund projects.
At the question-and-answer session, a participant suggested a renewable energy finance obligation to be put on banks to enable funding to solar projects even if they exceed sector limits.
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