Bogged down by staggering power supply, pharma units across India and primarily in Karnataka are looking at renewable energy solutions like solar power to solve the crisis. The cancellation of the coal block allocation is another blow to power generation as 54 per cent of electricity in India is produced with coal.

A few weeks ago, Karnataka, indicated its inability to provide 24/7 power supply owing to daily shortage of 1,000 MW. With the Union government’s focus on renewable energy and the allocation of Rs. 1,000 crore to develop ultra large solar power plants and solar parks has made pharma companies to look at the sun to solve its power crisis.

According to Jatish N Sheth, president, Karnataka Drugs & Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (KDPMA), solar could be the answer to prevent the power crisis in future.

In India, the big names in the space include ACME Group, Azure Power, Tata BP Solar, Schneider Electric India Solar Business Unit and Vikram Solar are engaged in discussions with the pharma industry for the effective implementation of solar-power generation solutions and working closely to contribute to the sector through its efficient green-energy solutions.

Solar power is the saviour and this source replaces diesel generators, reduces carbon footprint. Therefore solar power is the best suited for any manufacturing units including pharma as the sun-lit hours match the time-slot for most of the industries, Manoj Kumar Upadhyay, chairman & managing director, ACME Group told Pharmabiz in an email.

Reduction of excise duty to promote domestic manufacturing of solar cells, modules and batteries, allocation of Rs. 100 crore to replicate the solar power project commissioned on Narmada canal would enable India to enhance its solar power production share in the overall electricity generation from existing 1 per cent to 3 per cent , he added.

“There is need for dedicated Pharma Park which has solar power installation to ensure uninterrupted manufacturing operations, said Harish K Jain, treasurer, KDPMA and director, Embiotic Laboratories (P) Ltd.

According to Sunil Attavar, secretary, KDPMA and managing director, Group Pharmaceuticals, solar power installations would help considerably help non manufacturing operations in a plant and it was high time that the industry looked up to the sun for power.

Solar power is cost effective in the long-run and adopting a green energy path should be a bench mark for pharma industry which is a power guzzler, said solar panel manufacturers who stated that there is an overwhelming response for solar-led power generation for captive and grid utilisation.

A few states have net-metering policy enabling retail power users to feed in the surplus energy generated back to the grid, which in turn reduces cost and carbon footprint. “As an industry leader, we propose that states not having access to 300 sun-lit days should invest in solar parks. Several industrial parks are opting for solar power and seeking LEED certification too”, said the ACME Group chief.

A handful of small and medium enterprises(SMEs) in pharma viewed that that solar power was ideal for R&D labs and not for large scale manufacturing. But ACME along with other solar companies beg to differ. “This perception has changed with advances in technology. Solar is the future in power generation. Its short panel construction time, modular design and easy maintenance are its success factors,” said the ACME CMD.

However, a challenge is to convince pharma SMEs to accept the higher upfront which follows with the minimal operation cost after installation. There is also an issue of space constraint, as the roof-top solar power unit stalls the option future high rise construction on the same building, said Upadhyay.