MNRE announced new National Lab Policy for Renewable Energy

As per MNRE, India’s target of achieving 175GW of renewable energy by 2022 has made it mandatory to have and robust and precise policy.

In order to acquire better quality and reliability of projects under the renewable energy category in India the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has recently announced the new and updated version of National Lab Policy (NLP) on 7 December, 2017.  The policy is meant to set a benchmark in quality standards with efficient system of testing, standardization, and certification for the renewable energy sector.

As per MNRE, India’s target of achieving 175GW of renewable energy by 2022 has made it mandatory to have and robust and precise policy in order to have a consistent quality.

Institutes like the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), the Alternate Hydro Power Energy Centre (AHEC), the Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Bio-energy (SSS-NIBE), and other test centers for solar, thermal, and biogas set up earlier by MNRE will not be able to serve the purpose of managing the same quality alone throughout, as the target of 175GW is itself a significant production. Therefore, the development of a policy to have more labs across the nation in a precise manner is needed.

Key Highlights of the Policy

• Imported systems and components will also be tested for efficiency and performance in accordance with Indian climate conditions, even though they have may have already received international certification prior to being exported to India.
• Performance certification will be made a mandatory prerequisite for ensuring quality and reliability.
• MNRE institutions will have their research and development (R&D), testing, standardization, and certification abilities strengthened in order to make them global centers of excellence in new and renewable energy.
• Qualifying products must be registered with BIS for deployment.
• A standards test and quality control committee (STQCC) for the renewable energy sector will be set up in MNRE.
• The labs will be financially supported in partnership with the government or they will be set up on a self-sustaining basis. The mechanisms can include public-private partnerships and mobilizing CSR funds
• Test labs will create professional competency development programs to ensure that they have a skilled and competent workforce.
• Samples must be collected at three stages of the life cycle of component or product, namely; the prototype design stage, the factory production stage, and the supply stage at the project site.
• All test labs must be accredited by National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
• A network of test labs will be established in each segment to exchange experience and information.
• Implementation of the policy will be coordinated by STQCC and the quality control regulatory committee.

Source: MNRE