SAFAR envisages a research based management system where strategies of air pollution mitigation go hand in hand with nation’s economic development to target a win-win scenario.
Through SAFAR know the City Air Quality- Over all city pollution and Location specific Air Quality- A relative contribution of different environments in a city
Under the plan scheme “Metropolitan Advisories for Cities for Sports, Tourism (Metropolitan Air Quality and Weather Services), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Govt. of India, has introduced a major national initiative, "System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research" known as "SAFAR" for greater metropolitan cities of India to provide location specific information on air quality in near real time and its forecast 1-3 days in advance for the first time in India.
It has been combined with the early warning system on weather parameters. The SAFAR system is developed by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, along with ESSO partner institutions namely India Meteorological Department (IMD) and National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF).
The implementation of SAFAR is made possible with an active collaboration with local municipal corporations and various local educational institutions and governmental agencies in that Metro city.
The ultimate objective of the project is to increase awareness among general public regarding the air quality in their city well in advance so that appropriate mitigation measures and systematic action can be taken up for betterment of air quality and related health issues.
It engineers awareness drive by educating public, prompting self-mitigation and also to help develop mitigation strategies for policy makers.
The SAFAR observational network of Air Quality Monitoring Stations (AQMS) and Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) established within city limits represents selected microenvironments of the city including industrial, residential, background/ cleaner, urban complex, agricultural zones etc. as per international guidelines which ensures the true representation of city environment.
Air Quality indicators are monitored at about 3 m height from the ground with online sophisticated instruments. These instruments are operated round the clock and data is recorded and stored at every 5 minute interval for quality check and further analysis.
Pollutants monitored: PM1, PM2.5, PM10, Ozone, CO, NOx (NO, NO2), SO2, BC, Methane (CH4), Non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), VOC’s, Benzene, Mercury
Monitored Meteorological Parameters: UV Radiation, Rainfall, Temperature, Humidity, Wind speed, Wind direction, solar radiation
The Intra-IMD Portal ‘METNET’ is now a fully operational website. It contains some very sensitive data like the Service Records of the employees, metadata of the observatories, payment and leave details, circulars and orders issued by establishments, IT inventories, appointments at DGM Secretariat, and much more.
It may be noted that all these information are available on the globally accessed internet, not on the dedicated intra-IMD network at present, which seems to be vulnerable to the hacking, virus infection, etc.
Considering the sensitivity of the data and information involved the security of the Server, scalability and maintainability of the system, the competent authority has approved the following ‘METNET Policy’:
1) All packages on the portal should conform to unified properties in respect of Logins by Sections and Individuals with unique username & password. This is essential for user-friendliness of the system. Similarly a common standard naming policy is required for databases, tables and files to improve scalability and maintainability.
2) The authority of Website and Database Administrators has been assigned to the designated Officers of ISSD. All developers who wish to implement their package on the METNET should approach these administrators for the same. Individual programmers are not authorised to create database directly and host the files on the server without being scrutinised and checked.
3) Packages developed by anybody in IMD can be hosted on METNET. However, they should be forwarded to IT Unit, which will review the feasibility, compatibility and applicability of the application at appropriate level and host them with the approval of the competent authority.
4) Administrators will be maintaining the database of the projects and their developers, which can be viewed by all the authorised users. Individual programmers should not publish their names in their packages.
5) All correspondence related to METNET data, packages and usage may be addressed by the users and developers to single e-mail contact of IT Unit ([email protected]).
6) Administrators at HQ only will be responsible for the maintenance and backup arrangements of the complete system.
7) Administrators shall keep the log of access on the server and keep the passwords etc. in written form as confidential at a place, where it can be retrieved as a disaster recovery measure.
India attains global 4th and 5th positions in wind and solar power installed capacities; India now at 5th global position for overall installed renewable energy capacity
A total of 101.83 billion units of power were generated in the country during the year 2017-18 from renewable energy
The Government has declared the trajectory of bidding 60 GW capacity of solar energy and 20 GW capacity of wind energy by March 2020,leaving two years’ time for execution of projects.
Keeping in view our commitment to a healthy planet and our Nationally Determined Contributions as per the Paris Accord on Climate Change, India made a pledge that by 2030, 40% of installed power generation capacity shall be based on clean sources, it was determined that 175 GW of renewable energy capacity will be installed by 2022. This includes 100 GW from solar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GW from bio-power and 5 GW from small hydro power.
The substantial higher capacity target will ensure greater energy security, improved energy access and enhanced employment opportunities. With the accomplishment of this ambitious target, India will become one of the largest Green Energy producers in the world, even surpassing several developed countries
The Government has revised the target of Grid Connected Solar Power Projects from 20,000 MW by the year 2021-22 to 100,000 MW by the year 2021-22 under the National Solar Mission.
The country currently has the fifth highest solar installed capacity in the world with total installed capacity of 24.33 GW as on October, 2018 against a target of 100 GW by 2022. Further, 22.8 GW capacity is under implementation or have been tendered out.
The Ministry plans to bid out remaining solar power capacity in 2018-19 and 2019-20, so that bidding gets completed for entire 100 GW capacity additions by March 2020, leaving two years’ time for execution of projects.
The tariff for grid-connected solar power projects is determined through competitive bidding process involving reverse e-auction.
This has helped in bringing down the tariff significantly. The lowest solar tariff discovered as on date is Rs. 2.44/kWh in July 2018 in ISTS based bidding of solar projects in India. The solar tariff has come down from around Rs 18/kWh in 2010 to Rs. 2.44/kWh in 2018 due to various factors like economies of scale, assured availability of land and power evacuation systems etc.
Solar Parks are being set up in the country. 47 solar parks of aggregate capacity 26,694 MW has been approved in 21 States up to November, 2018.Over 1,00,000 lakh acres of land identified for various solar parks out of which over 75,000 acres have been acquired. Solar projects of aggregate capacity 4195 MW have been commissioned inside various solar parks.
The Ministry is also taking up projects for new emerging technologies such as floating solar power.
The country currently has the fourth highest wind installed capacity in the world with total installed capacity of 34.98 GW as on October, 2018 against a target of 60 GW by 2022. Further, around 9.4 GW capacity is under implementation or have been tendered out.
The Ministry plans to bid out 10 GW wind power capacity each year for 2018-19 and 2019-20, so that bidding gets completed for entire 60 GW capacity additions by March 2020, leaving two years’ time for execution of projects.
The recent assessment conducted by National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE) indicates a gross wind power potential of 302 GW in the country at 100 meter above ground level.
The capacity additions till 2017 were through Feed in Tariff (FiT) mechanism. Subsequently, the tariff regime has been shifted from Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) to bidding route.
The Government has issued ‘Guidelines for Tariff Based Competitive Bidding Process for Procurement of Power from Grid Connected Wind Power Projects’, vide Resolution notified on 8th December, 2017, with an objective to provide a framework for procurement of wind power through a transparent process of bidding. This has resulted in discovery of lowest ever tariff for wind power.
The National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy was issued in May 2018. The main objective of the policy is to provide a framework for promotion of large grid connected wind-solar PV hybrid system for optimal and efficient utilization of wind and solar resources, transmission infrastructure and land. The wind - solar PV hybrid systems will help in reducing the variability in renewable power generation and achieving better grid stability. A bid for setting up of first 1200 MW Greenfieldwind solar hybrid project was floated by SECI.
The National Offshore wind energy policy was notified in October 2015 with an objective to develop the offshore wind energy in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) along the Indian coastline.
Initial studies carried out by NIWE indicate offshore wind energy potential off the coasts Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
LiDAR was commissioned on the monopile platform in November 2017 at Gulf of Khambhat, off Gujarat coast for wind resource assessment.
NIWE floated Expression of Interest (EoI) for establishment of 1 GW offshore wind farm in Gulf of Khambhat region off Gujarat coast. 35 parties (both national and international) showed interest.
National targets for offshore wind capacity additions of 5 GW by 2022 and 30 by 2030 declared.
The expansion of the wind industry has resulted in a strong ecosystem, project operation capabilities and a manufacturing base. State-of-the-art technologies are now available in the country for the manufacture of wind turbines.
All the major global players in this field have their presence in the country.
Over 24 different models of wind turbines are being manufactured by more than 12 different companies in India.
Wind turbines and components are being exported to the US, Australia, Europe, Brazil and other Asian countries. Around 70-80% indigenization has been achieved with strong domestic manufacturing in the wind sector.
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has been promoting programmes to promote Biomass Power and Bagasse Cogeneration in the country with an objective to utilize country’s available biomass resources like bagasse, rice husk, straw, cotton stalk, coconut shells etc. for power generation.
Waste to Energy projects are also being set up for generation of Energy from Urban, Industrial and Agricultural Waste / Residues such as municipal solid wastes, vegetable and other market wastes, slaughterhouse waste, agricultural residues and industrial wastes & effluents.
A total capacity of 9.54 GW ofgrid connected bio-powerhas been installed in the country as on October 2018 against a target of 10 GW bio-power by 2022. This includes 8.73 GW from bagasse cogeneration, 0.68 GW from non-bagasse cogeneration and 0.13 GW from waste to energy.
A total capacity of 4.5 GW of grid connected small hydro power has been installed in the country as on October 2018 against a target of 5 GW small hydro power by 2022. Further, 126 no. of projects of capacity 0.73 GW are under various stages of implementation.
Energy Storage is one of the crucial & critical components of India's energy infrastructure strategy and also for supporting India's sustained thrust to renewables and electric mobility.
With an objective to strive towards leadership in the energy storage sector by creating an enabling policy and regulatory framework, a comprehensive National Energy Storage Mission (NESM) has been developed.
The Mission focuses on demand creation, indigenous manufacturing, innovation and necessary policy support for proliferation of Energy Storage in the country.
The Ministry is implementing off grid and Decentralized renewables programme for meeting energy demand for cooking, lighting, motive power, space heating, hot water generation, etc.
The Ministry also supports deployment of decentralized solar applications like solar lanterns, solar street lights, solar home lights, solar pumps, etc. in the country.
As on October, 2018, over 40 Lakhs no. of Lantern & Lamps, 16.72 lakhs no. of Home Lights, 6.40 lakhs no. of Street Lights, 1.96 lakhs no. of solar pumps and 187.99MWp Stand Alone has been installed in the country.
The MNRE has decided to scale-up its RD&D effort to Technology Development and Innovation Programme.
The focus is on promoting application oriented innovation, integrated with research and development for for commercial applications and testing and standardization for quality and reliability assurance in renewable energy sector.
A Technology Development and Innovation Policy (TDIP) is also being finalised.
It is based on a robust ecosystem for support for research, innovation and validation for technology development and demonstration, testing and standardization, awards for innovation linked with start-ups.
As part of HRD programme of the Ministry, a robust RE education and training system is developed. SPV lighting systems, Solar Thermal systems, SHP have been incorporated in the regular syllabus of 2 years certificate programme for seven trades i.e Electronics, Electrician, Machinist, Welder, Carpenter, Fitter and Plumber.
Course modules and Modular Employable Skilling programme (MES) of NCVT have been developed. Parallelly, through Sector Skill Council of Green Jobs NOSs/QPs have been developed for various job roles in Renewable Energy sectors and regular training programmes are being organised for these job roles with the support of MNRE or MSDE as per National Skill Development Policy 2015.
2nd Global Re-Invest Renewable Energy Investors’ Meet and Expo (2nd Re-Invest) The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy hosted the First Assembly of International Solar Alliance (ISA), 2nd Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Energy Ministerial Meet and 2nd Global RE-Invest Meet & Expo from 3rd to 5th October 2018 at the India Expo Mart, Greater NOIDA.
The three-day event saw participation of over 20,000 delegates including representatives of over 77 countries out of which 40 were at ministerial level.
This Meeting provided a platform for experts to discuss energy needs within the region, identification of hurdles in cooperation and coordination among concerned agencies. The event also witnessed the cementing of ties between the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and ISA in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The International Solar Alliance (ISA) became first international intergovernmental organization headquartered in India on 6th December, 2017. ISA is part of India’s vision to provide clean and affordable energy to all. So far 71 countries have signed the Framework Agreement of the ISA. Out of these,48 countries have ratified the same.
The First Assembly of the ISA was held on 3 October, 2018 in India. 37 ISA member Countries, including India and France, attended the Assembly. In addition, 25 countries that have signed the Framework Agreement of ISA but yet to ratify; 13 Prospective Member countries that are yet sign the Framework Agreement of the ISA; and 3 Partner countries that are beyond inter-tropical zone attended the Assembly as Observers.
In the First Assembly inter-alia India’s resolution for amending the Framework Agreement of the ISA for opening up the ISA membership to all countries that are members of United Nations was adopted.
India has recognized ISA’s judicial personality by entering into Headquarter agreement with ISA.