CSP AN OPTIMUM ALTERNATIVE POWER SOLUTION

FOR INDIA
The sharp decline in solar PV prices has caused the CSP sector gasping for breadth. For CSPS
survival, it badly needs oxygen. The big question is which country is likely to provide the steady
source of oxygen needed for long term sustenance of CSP. Long term sustenance of any solution
requires a ) sustained need for that solution & b) the solution should be competitive to
alternative solutions. With these criteria as the framework , India would emerge as the most
likely country as the savior of CSP.
NEED FOR CSP IN INDIA : Unlike the global scenario where the renewable energy sources like
solar, wind etc are being promoted mainly for meeting the Renewable Power Obligation, the
renewable energy source in India is being developed with the intent of meeting the huge gap in
basic power demand and supply. Carbon foot-print reduction is an add-on feature. Since the
primary purpose of setting up the renewable power project is towards reducing the gap in the
basic power demand, the renewable power cost cannot be much higher than that of the
alternative power cost. The political compulsions and the difficulty in passing on the high tariffs
to the rate payers implies that the cost of the alternative power cannot be much higher than
that of the available power cost.
The Coal based power which forms the backbone of the Indian Power industry has been
witnessing a lot of turbulence. Acute shortage of domestic coal coupled with the steep increase
in Indonesian coal price has brought the coal based power capacity addition practically to a halt.
Wind and biomass based power projects have seen significant growth in the past decade,
primarily because the cost of the wind and bio-mass based power were comparable to that of the
base power cost with the fiscal concessions provided for these renewable power projects.
With the setting up of number of bio-mass projects, the price of biomass has risen sharply and
these projects facing difficulties in providing cost effective power. Also with the tax shield offered
to wind power projects getting withdrawn, the wind power projects have also witnessed a steep
fall.
Today with the Solar PV prices having come down sharply, the solar PV project cost is almost
at par with that of the wind power projects and the solar PV projects are picking up momentum.
CSP PROJECT COST COMPETITIVE TO SOLAR PV / WIND: CSP with thermal storage and the
potential to achieve about 60% CUF can overcome the problem of intermittency and can be
generated during the peak load duration. The only requirement is that the CSP project cost has
to be comparable to that of the alternate power cost from that of Wind and Solar PV. The
question is whether it is possible to set up CSP projects at a cost comparable to those of wind /
solar PV. The short answer is that Yes. It is possible to set up CSP projects with the cost of
power comparable to that of PV / Wind . However, this is possible only with integrating thermal
storage and raising the capacity utilization factor to about 60%.
The good utility practice for achieving a stable grid is to limit the intermittent power capacities to
about 10% of the grid capacity. The wind and solar PV in India has crossed the 20,000 MW
capacity which is the 10% level of the 200,000 MW installed capacity in India.
The actual percentage on a line-wise estimate would thus be much higher. It is therefore
necessary to add power plants which offers stable and continuous power and it is this factor

which will drive the CSP market in India and it is in the interest of the Government of India to
promote setting up of CSP projects with thermal storage.