TN Has Become India's First Carbon-Neutral Production Hub

Tamil Nadu has become the first carbon-neutral global manufacturing hub which in turn would leverage the state’s extensive renewable energy capacity. Powering Tamil Nadu’s Economic Growth identifies that the state is capable of accepting more than 122 GW of renewable energy–104.75 GW from wind and 17.67 GW from solar on wasteland but a couple of policy and regulatory bottlenecks have been restraining progress.

The study points out that open access with transparent tariffs, reliability, and stable regulatory frameworks are indispensable to investors for both attraction and maintaining competitiveness. The stakeholder concerns revolved around the delay in adopting the central green power reforms and the prolongation of curtailments of renewable power.

“Policies and practices are still far from being very encouraging for green energy producers. The time for commissioning dedicated green corridors and fair tariffs is long gone, it’s urgently needed,” said K. Venkatachalam, Chief Advisor, Renewable Energy Producers Association.

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This research work suggests a 10-point action plan consisting of the elimination of cross-subsidies in a phased manner, MSME access to green finance enhancement, storage solutions stimulation, and rooftop solar barrier elimination as the measures to be taken. Some of the proposed quick wins are the implementation of viable time-of-day green tariffs and accelerated rollout of Green Open Access.

TNPDCL Chairman J. Radhakrishnan mentioned the necessity for the state to increase renewable capacity, referring to pumped storage plants that are about to be commissioned, battery storage tenders, and offshore wind integration.