June 2014
By Darshan Goswami
Darshan Goswami makes a strong argument for India to harness concentrated solar power, a renewable, safe and clean resource, for its future energy needs
Solar energy is an enormous resource that is readily available in all countries throughout the world, and all the space above the earth. Long ago scientists calculated that an hour’s worth of sunlight bathing the planet held far more energy than humans worldwide could consume in a year. I firmly believe that India should accellerate the use of all forms of renewable energy (photovoltaic, thermal solar, solar lamps, solar pumps, wind power, biomass, biogas, and hydro), and more proactively promote energy efficiency. However, in this article, I will only focus on the use of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology to meet India’s future energy needs.
Worldwide, Germany and Spain are leaders in solar power generation with 4,000 megawatts and 600 mega watts of installed capacity respectively. A recently formed consortium of 12 companies, known as the Desertec Industrial Initiative (DDI), plans to spend 400 billion Euros ($557 billion) to extract solar energy from the Sahara desert. The DDI aims to deliver solar power to Europe as early as 2015, and eventually provide 15 per cent of Europe’s electricity by 2050 or earlier via power lines stretching across the desert and under the Mediterranean Sea.
How the technology works
CSP plants generate electricity from sunlight by focussing solar energy, collected by an array(s) of sun-tracking mirrors called heliostats, onto a central receiver. Liquid salt (a mixture of sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate) is circulated through tubes in the receiver, absorbing the heat energy gathered from the sun. The heated salt is then routed to an insulated tank where it can be stored with minimal energy losses. To generate electricity, the hot molten salt is routed through heat exchangers and a steam generation system. The steam is then used to produce electricity in a conventional steam turbine. After exiting the steam generation system, the now cool salt mixture is circulated back to the “cold” thermal storage tank, and the cycle is repeated.
While CSP technology is not new, it offers one of the most promising utility-scale, and sustainable technology options for meeting India’s energy needs from renewable energy resources. But a large scale initiative (like Europe’s DDI) is needed to make it more cost-effective. Moreover, the Rajasthan desert has the potential to produce solar power at a cost low enough to be competitive with fossil and nuclear power.
Conclusion
Solar power is an enormous readily available source of energy. It can be used everywhere, and can, in principle, satisfy most of India’s energy demand from a renewable, safe and clean resource. Concentrating solar collectors are very efficient and can completely replace the electricity traditionally produced by fossil fuel power plants. CSP plants in the 30 MW to 200 MW range are now operating successfully in locations from California to Europe. Nearly every day now, new CSP plants are being planned for construction. Today\\\’s CSP plants supply the heat needed to generate electricity at a cost equivalent to $50 – $60 per barrel of oil. This cost is expected to be slashed by 50 per cent to below $25 – $30 per barrel in the next 10 years.
India should begin creating a mainstream solar energy market with the goal of making solar power cost-competitive with fossil fuel-generated electricity. One step toward achieving this goal would be to start a nationwide solar initiative of building 10 million solar roofs within ten years. It has often been said that it is not a question of if, but when solar power becomes cost-competitive with traditional electricity sources. With the right programmes and policies today, India can have a great deal of control over how rapidly solar power becomes cost-competitive. And, by getting in on the ground floor of this new technology, India can also create millions of jobs in renewable energy.
India needs a plan with the same spirit, boldness and the imagination of the Apollo programme that put astronauts on the moon. The technology is well established and available. All that is needed now to make this concept a reality is political commitment and appropriate investments and funding to harness this renewable solar energy resource.
I expect that the USA administration will strongly prioritise the use of solar thermal energy as a solution to the climate and energy crisis. This should create additional incentive for countries such as India, who have optimal conditions for CSP plants, to take similar actions. India’s solar energy holds great promise. India must accellerate its investment in renewable energy resources, specifically solar and wind energy. The US-India Energy Dialogue, which facilitates discussions on renewable energy and energy efficiency, can be a very useful tool to spark investments in solar energy. This can lay the foundation for an energy independent future – one in which the Government of India takes advantage of the vast amounts of energy available from the Rajasthan desert sun (instead of oil from the Arab nations) to power its future energy needs. In addition, solar energy would not only create millions of jobs, but also sustain India’s positive economic growth, and combat poverty and climate change.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer and are not intended to represent the views or policies of the United States Department of Energy. The article was not prepared as part of the writer’s official duties or using any Government resources at the United States Department of Energy.
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