The National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF), created under the aegis of non-renewable energy ministry, will provide financial support for development of indigenous technologies in solar power.
The government views the research will help in reducing the final cost of producing electricity through tapping solar energy.
?In the next five years, India would need 28,000 mw of renewable power, and wind energy would be a dominant source for it. But going forward, solar energy would play a vital role in achieving that target,? Pramod Deo, chairman, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, said in an event organised by Forum for Advancement of Solar Thermal (FAST).
Last week, the government cleared the creation of a national clean energy fund that will finance green energy projects and research ventures aimed at reducing India?s carbon footprint. The 2010-11 Budget had made provision for such a fund created through a clean energy cess of R50 per tonne of coal, lignite and peat since last year.
The government has collected around R3,124 crore from the coal cess in 2010-11, and the corpus under the fund is expected to be over R6,500 crore in 2011-12. It is expected that a significant portion of these funds would be used for supporting payment security mechanisms and R&D activities under Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.
?Last year, we added 3,150 mw of renewable energy to out grid, including 2,000 mw from wind power and just 40 mw of solar power. But this year we are expecting to add 250 mw from solar power,? Deepak Gupta, secretary, ministry of new and renewable energy, said.