The Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy, R.K. Singh, recently launched the website and telephone directory of the Association of Renewable Energy Agencies of States (AREAS).

AREAS is an initiative of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) to collaborate information and acquire knowledge from each other’s experience about different renewable energy technologies and programs. The Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy is the patron of the association and secretary, while MNRE is the ex-officio president of the association. All state nodal agencies are the members of the association.

“Renewable energy is economically viable today. The only rider is storage. Prices of storage will come down over time. We should bring down storage prices by increasing demand and putting up more manufacturing facilities. Once that happens, the transition to renewables will be faster. More and more future projects will have storage with them. I propose to have renewable purchase obligations (RPO) for round-the-clock renewable energy, which will encourage storage,” said R.K. Singh, Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy.

The minister also suggested to the association that the organization should launch a campaign to inform people that the consumption of electricity through renewable energy would bring down their electricity expenses. He added that the Ministry could provide an additional fund to AREAS to launch campaigns on various communication channels like television, radio spots as well as hoardings. He further added that AREAS should organize brainstorming sessions at least once in a quarter to discuss issues of the renewable energy sector and come out with possible innovative solutions.

Recently, Singh said that the government was planning to develop 3 GW (each) of solar module and cell manufacturing capacity in the country.