Solar Open Access Expansion Faces Bottlenecks
Of late, Energy Transition has gained great momentum in India with the impetus from government policies and rising corporate demand for clean power. India’s solar open access expansion has hit the roadblock as it is hindered by several factors including fragmented land ownership, unclear titles, regulatory delays, and complex land-use conversion procedures. Securing contiguous, litigation-free land, especially in proximity to substations, remains both time-consuming and operationally challenging.
Impact of Solar Land Acquisition Issues on Solar Projects
Solar Land Acquisition Challenges have been affecting solar projects across several states with developers spending anywhere between six to fourteen months just on land aggregation and conversion, significantly extending overall project timelines. The nature of land holdings in India, often small and owned by multiple farmers, further aggravates the Solar Land Acquisition Challenges. That makes aggregation negotiation a heavy lift, and delays often are compounded by unrealistic pricing expectations.
Another bottleneck in Solar Land Acquisition is the fact that land records are often incomplete or outdated. Further, legal issues are associated with unrecorded transfer of ownership cases, dead owners with no recent succession records and delay in updating ownership within the family resulting in longer due diligence timelines and project risks. The second Solar Land Acquisition Challenge is the scarcity of large and contiguous tracts of land that satisfy all project requirements.” Developers need land that is not only suitably large and contiguous but also legally free of encumbrances, with clear titles and no government, forest, prohibited or disputed classifications. Even the slightest irregularity in a parcel can upset project viability.
To get around these limitations the developers are slowly shifting to smaller, distributed solar projects in the neighborhood of 10-50 MW. This approach provides more flexibility in land aggregation and better use of multiple substations for power evacuation, particularly in open access projects involving multiple C&I consumers. Addressing these challenges in Solar Land Acquisition will be critical to maintaining the momentum of India’s solar open access market and achieving higher renewable energy targets. Developers stress on reforms such as digitized land records, faster approval mechanisms, development of land banks and renewable energy zones, and wider adoption of alternatives like floating solar where possible.
Transmission Challenges
Access solar projects are moving to semi-rural and distant areas where land is cheaper and easier to find. This shift brings new challenges. Projects far from cities need transmission infrastructure, which costs more and takes longer to build.
· These extra transmission costs hurt project profits for commercial and industrial solar projects that need to stay competitive.
· Developers say land near cities is hard to find and expensive so they are building projects in areas with plenty of resources. Far from where the energy is needed.
Projects in areas can have delays in connecting to the grid and evacuating power, which adds to costs and affects timelines. Getting land on time is crucial for project success. Developers stress that securing land early is vital for getting financing and making the project viable.
Customers with power purchase agreements need projects to be delivered on schedule. Delays in land acquisition can make customers lose confidence and affect contracts. Lenders also prefer projects with land ownership or lease agreements before financing.
Floating Solar Projects Offer Complementary Support
To solve land acquisition problems state governments are looking into floating projects. These projects use water bodies of land easing pressure on scarce land resources.
· Floating solar is an option when land is limited but it has its challenges, such as being cost-intensive and requiring specialized engineering.
· Industry experts say floating solar can’t replace ground-mounted installations completely. It serves as a strong complementary solution, particularly in states with many reservoirs and water infrastructure.
Going forward floating solar scalability depends on policy support, streamlined reservoir access and adequate grid connectivity.
Initiatives by State Governments
States like Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat are leading in access solar adoption due to favorable policies, strong industrial demand and proactive renewable energy ecosystems.
· State-level policies and infrastructure are key to open access project development. A mature ecosystem in some states makes it easier for developers to access land and grid connectivity.
· Rajasthan, Gujarat and Karnataka have been destinations due to abundant land availability and conducive regulatory frameworks.
· The impact of state initiatives varies across regions. Uttar Pradesh has made progress on developing evacuation infrastructure and allowing the use of land for solar projects.
Policy Changes Required for Smooth Project Execution
To speed up project development developers are urging policy changes, such as:
· Digitizing land records
· Harmonizing regulations across states
· Streamlining approval procedures
· Initiatives like establishing land banks streamlining land-use changes and setting up pre-approved renewable energy zones can simplify project implementation.
· Developers also emphasize the need to identify and allocate low-quality land for projects introduce incentives to support investments and rationalize distribution company charges to improve project viability.
· With India targeting 500 GW of energy capacity by 2030 addressing these structural and policy-level challenges is critical. A focused approach, to resolving the pain points faced by open access solar developers will be essential to accelerate project execution and scale up renewable energy deployment.
Land acquisition for Indosol Solar Project
Indosol Solar has been allotted a large chunk of land for the construction of an integrated solar manufacturing facility at Ramayapatnam Road in Prakasam district. However, the land acquisition has been facing a lot of issues as the lands allotted to the company are owned by farmers and are being used by them for agricultural purpose. Some farmers in the Karedu region of Andhra Pradesh are opposing the land acquisition for the solar project.
However, AP government has been working on the speedy redressal of land acquisition from farmers for the establishment of solar integrated manufacturing facility. The cabinet meet chaired by Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh has appointed special officers for the smooth and speedy land acquisition process in Karedu region. The government has appointed a deputy collector and two more nodal officers for the land acquisition process.
About Indosol Solar
Indosol Solar Pvt. Ltd. is the solar PV Manufacturing arm of Shirdi Sai Electricals Limited (SSEL). It is spearheading India’s Renewable Energy mission by developing fully vertically integrated giga-scale solar PV manufacturing ecosystem, spanning the entire value chain from quartz to high efficiency solar photovoltaics modules. It has commenced operations with a 500MW module manufacturing facility at Ramayapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. It is rapidly scaling up and aims to achieve 10GW of integrated solar PV manufacturing capacity by 2027.