Wind-solar hybrid (WSH) power, which harnesses both solar and wind energy, is fast emerging as a viable new renewable energy (RE) option in India.
According to CRISIL Research estimates, about 15 gigawatt (GW) of WSH power will come up over the next five years, riding on strong support from central public sector undertaking Solar Energy Corp of India (SECI) and several state governments.
As per the ratings agency, of the 15GW WSH power, about 10GW is already in the works—either under construction or being tendered—and will start feeding the grid by fiscal 2024.
SECI intends to set up 5GW of solar and wind projects with storage under the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode over the next 10 years, adding to the country’s total of 37.69GW of wind energy capacity and 35GW of solar capacity as of fiscal 2020.
WSH projects, which harness both solar and wind energy, are expected to account for a good chunk of the pipeline. In January this year, SECI invited bids for 1.2GW WSH capacity under its tranche-III tender for RE projects.
According to CRISIL Research, there are proposals to set up around 3.9GW of pure-play WSH projects and about 4.5GW of WSH projects with energy storage systems currently.
WSH projects with storage are capable of catering to peak load generation, besides improving the capacity utilisation factor. Hence, these have the potential to reduce the country’s dependence on gas- and pumped hydro-based peaking plants, the ratings agency says.
Integrating wind and solar energy projects with the grid can be challenging because of the variability in generation from these projects. However, it says, in WSH projects, the two energy sources complement each other to reduce the variability of generation and improve grid security.
This story is based on CRISIL Report