Renewable energy contributes over 22 per cent to India's installed power generation capacity. Although conventional fuels still dominate this segment, the share of renewable energy sources has been steadily increasing from about 8 per cent in 2009.

Despite its huge potential in a largely agrarian country, biomass lacks competitiveness in India. It is also meagre in comparison with the other green energy sources.

We opened a company called Boccard India in September. The opportunity came about when we took over the operations of Areva Bioenergy in Chennai. That gave us the means to enter the market. We have been present in the India through services and products from our companies such as the Belgium-based Meura, a leading player in the beer industry.

Mitsubishi Corporation Power Systems, Inc. (MCP), has joined with The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. (KEPCO) to establish a new joint venture. The new venture, Aioi Bioenergy Corporation, is being set up to promote and develop biomass power generation business in Japan. The new venture will have an initial capital of 450 million yen, with 40 per cent of that being invested by MCP.

Capacity addition in Renewable Energy (RE) has shown a steady progress in the past decade. Though wind energy is leading the RE basket, solar, biomass and small hydro have made significant progress in the last few years.

Green Energy Corridor planned to carry ´intermittent´ solar and wind power from producers to consumers efficiently, is yet to catch up with the pace of capacity creation.

Renewable energy certificate (REC) mechanism, a market-based instrument introduced in 2010 to promote renewable energy and facilitate compliance of renewable purchase obligations (RPOs), has not received an enthusiastic response from the obligatory entities till recently.

Biomass energy is generated through organic matter and can be utilised for various applications, to produce heat and electricity, or used in combined heat and power (CHP) plants; in combination with fossil fuels (co-firing) to improve efficiency and reduce the build up of combustion residues; to replace petroleum as a source for transportation fuels.

The world now adds more renewable power capacity annually than it adds (net) capacity from all fossil fuels combined. Wind and solar PV had record additions for the second consecutive year, while hydro power represented most of the remainder.