Techno-economic evaluation of concentrating solar power generation in India Ishan Purohit a , Pallav Purohit b,n a The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), IHC Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110016, India b International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Schlossplatz 1, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria article info Article history: Received 19 May 2009 Accepted 21 January 2010 Available online 18 February 2010 Keywords: Solar thermal power generation Techno-economic evaluation Concentrating solar power abstract The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) of the recently announced National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) by the Government of India aims to promote the development and use of solar energy for power generation and other uses with the ultimate objective of making solar competitive with fossil-based energy options. The plan includes specific goals to (a) create an enabling policy framework for the deployment of 20,000 MW of solar power by 2022; (b) create favourable conditions for solar manufacturing capability, particularly solar thermal for indigenous production and market leadership; (c) promote programmes for off grid applications, reaching 1000 MW by 2017 and 2000 MW by 2022, (d) achieve 15 million m 2 solar thermal collector area by 2017 and 20 million by 2022, and (e) deploy 20 million solar lighting systems for rural areas by 2022. The installed capacity of grid interactive solar power projects were 6 MW until October 2009 that is far below from their respective potential. In this study, a preliminary attempt towards the technical and economic assessment of concentra- ting solar power (CSP) technologies in India has been made. To analyze the techno-economic feasibility of CSP technologies in Indian conditions two projects namely PS-10 (based on power tower technology) and ANDASOL-1 (based on parabolic trough collector technology) have been taken as reference cases for this study. These two systems have been simulated at several Indian locations. The preliminary results indicate that the use of CSP technologies in India make financial sense for the north-western part of the country (particularly in Rajasthan and Gujarat states). Moreover, internalization of secondary benefits of carbon trading under clean development mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol further improves the financial feasibility of CSP systems at other locations considered in this study. It may be noted that the locations blessed with annual direct solar radiation more than 1800 kWh/m 2 are best recommended for installation of CSP systems. The results obtained can be used as preliminary indicators for identifying niche areas for immediate/short-term utilization of solar energy for concentrating solar power generation in India. & 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Energy is a vital ingredient in economic development. With the increasing world population and the rising living standards, the global energy demand is steadily increasing (EIA, 2006). More- over, developing countries are facing the challenge of sustaining economic growth, achieving social development and ensuring environmental protection (Beg et al., 2002). Therefore, the energy exploitation and utilization should be based on the sustainable development and better ecological environment in developing countries, so that we can attain the objective of coordinating the relationships among society, economy, energy, and sustainable environment that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (Dincer, 1998; Wang and Feng, 2003). At present, India faces formidable challenges in meeting its energy needs and in providing adequate energy of desired quality in a sustainable manner and at competitive prices (GOI, 2006). The cumulative installed capacity of electric power plants in India under utilities was 1,56,092.23 MW till December 2009. Out of this 52.3% is generating through coal, 10.9% by gas, 0.8% by oil and 2.6% from nuclear. The share of hydropower is 23.8% followed by 9.8% through renewable energy resources (see http://www.power- min.nic.in). However, in the electricity sector India is facing acute shortage. In December 2009, all India power deficit of 10.2% and peak shortage of 11.8% is observed (CEA, 2009). Renewable energy sources are indigenous and can contribute towards energy sufficiency as well as reduction in dependency on ARTICLE IN PRESS Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol Energy Policy 0301-4215/$ - see front matter & 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2010.01.041 n Corresponding author. Tel.: + 43 2236807 336; fax: + 43 2236807 533. E-mail addresses: purohit@iiasa.ac.at, pallav1976@yahoo.co.in (P. Purohit). Energy Policy 38 (2010) 3015–3029