“India’s renewable-energy opportunity is no longer defined only by capacity addition. The next phase will be defined by the quality of engineering, the strength of grid integration, the bankability of project assumptions and the long-term performance of operating assets. In this interview, Harish Sharma discusses the technical priorities that can help developers translate ambitious capacity targets into reliable and investible infrastructure.”
1 India’s renewable energy capacity is growing rapidly. From your experience, what are the key technical challenges that developers need to address while developing large-scale renewable energy projects?
The most important challenge is to treat a renewable project as an integrated power system rather than as a collection of modules, turbines, inverters and transformers. Decisions taken during the concept stage—resource assessment, site selection, DC and AC sizing, evacuation capacity, equipment architecture and operating philosophy affect generation, reliability and financial performance throughout the project’s life.
For large solar and wind projects, developers need reliable resource and topographical data, robust geotechnical and hydrological studies, constructible layouts and clear design bases. Grid integration is becoming equally critical. Load-flow, short-circuit, protection-coordination, reactive-power, harmonic and contingency studies should be completed early enough to influence the design rather than being treated as approval formalities after equipment selection.
Interface management is another recurring weakness. Civil, electrical, SCADA, transmission, OEM and contractor packages must use consistent inputs and revision control. Climate resilience, drainage, corrosion protection, spares, access for maintenance and equipment replacement should also be designed from the beginning.
Ultimately, bankability comes from disciplined engineering assumptions that are traceable, risks that are quantified and designs that remain operable under credible real-world conditions—not only under ideal simulation conditions.
2 Solar, Wind and Hybrid projects are increasingly developed together. What factors should developers consider while planning an efficient and reliable hybrid renewable energy project?
A hybrid project should be designed around an hourly and seasonal energy-delivery objective, not around the simple addition of solar and wind nameplate capacities. Developers should first study the complementarity of the resources, the expected generation profile, evacuation limits, curtailment risk and the obligations under the power-purchase arrangement.
The design should then optimise the solar-wind mix, DC and AC ratios, common evacuation infrastructure and, where relevant, the power and duration of the battery system. A higher installed capacity does not automatically create a better project, it can also increase clipping, congestion, cycling losses and underutilised equipment. Time-series modelling is therefore essential.
Electrical integration must cover load flow, short circuit, protection coordination, harmonics, reactive-power capability and credible N-1 contingencies. The plant controller, energy-management system, wind and solar controllers, BESS controller and grid interface must operate under one clearly defined control philosophy.
The strongest hybrid projects are those where resource assessment, grid studies, dispatch strategy and commercial obligations are engineered as one system.
3 Energy storage is becoming an important part of renewable energy projects. What changes do you expect BESS to bring to project planning, grid integration and energy management in India?
BESS will change renewable projects from largely energy-producing assets into flexible power-system resources. It can shift energy, smooth renewable ramps, manage peaks, support operating reserves and provide fast response for frequency and voltage events. Its value, however, depends on selecting the right use case before selecting the battery size.
Project planning will increasingly require interval-data analysis and chronological dispatch modelling. Developers must examine power rating, storage duration, state-of-charge limits, round-trip efficiency, degradation, augmentation, availability, temperature conditions and end-of-life capacity. Multiple revenue or operational benefits may be possible, but they should not be double-counted when preparing the business case.
Grid integration will become more control-intensive. The interaction between cells, racks, BMS, PCS, plant controller, EMS, protection system and grid operator must be validated under normal operation as well as disturbances. Safety engineering including fire detection, isolation, ventilation, emergency response and damaged-battery handling must remain a design priority.
For India, BESS can help make renewable generation more predictable and dispatchable, but bankability will depend on performance guarantees, degradation assumptions, warranty conditions and a well-defined operating strategy.
4 With more renewable projects coming into operation, performance and asset optimisation are becoming important. How can engineering and technical consultancy help developers improve the long-term performance of their projects?
Independent engineering creates the greatest value when it connects design decisions with operating evidence. Before construction, a consultant can challenge assumptions through DPR and TEV review, energy-yield assessment, technical due diligence, design review and constructability analysis. During procurement and execution, factory inspection, quality surveillance, drawing review, commissioning verification and acceptance testing reduce the risk of latent defects.
Once the plant is operating, the focus should shift from reporting generation to explaining losses. SCADA data, weather data, inverter behaviour, alarms, thermography, protection events and maintenance records can be used to distinguish resource variation from equipment, design or operational underperformance. This supports targeted rectification instead of broad, costly interventions.
Engineering consultants can also assist with performance testing, health checks, repowering studies, contract and warranty review, root-cause analysis and corrective and preventive action. A technically independent view is particularly valuable when several OEMs, EPC contractors, operators, lenders and insurers are involved.
5 How is digitalisation changing the way renewable energy projects are designed, monitored and managed? Are technologies such as AI, IoT and advanced data analytics becoming more important for your clients?
Digitalisation is making engineering more iterative, traceable and data-driven. During development, GIS platforms, energy-modelling tools, power-system simulation, 3D design and coordinated document environments allow alternatives to be tested earlier and interfaces to be resolved before construction. During operation, SCADA, IoT sensors, drones, thermography and advanced analytics provide visibility that periodic manual inspections cannot achieve on their own.
AI is becoming useful for anomaly detection, alarm prioritisation, generation forecasting, predictive maintenance and automated review of large data sets. However, AI should support engineering judgement does not replace it. An algorithm trained on incomplete, poorly time-synchronised or incorrectly tagged data can generate very confident but misleading conclusions.
For clients, the real value lies in moving from dashboards to decisions: identifying avoidable losses, forecasting failures, prioritising maintenance and measuring whether corrective action improved performance. This requires reliable sensors, common data definitions, cybersecurity, integration between OEM systems and disciplined validation of analytical models.
At Prasino Tech, our direction is to combine conventional engineering studies with digital analysis so that simulation, design review and operating data inform each other. The objective is a stronger evidence trail from design assumptions to actual asset performance.
6 Apart from Solar and Wind, which emerging areas such as BESS, Green Hydrogen, Hybrid Energy or BIPV do you see creating new opportunities for engineering and consultancy companies in India?
BESS and hybrid energy will create the largest near-term engineering opportunity because they directly address variability, grid constraints and the need for firmer renewable supply. These projects require skills that cut across resource modelling, electrical design, controls, grid studies, safety, commercial optimisation and performance verification.
Green hydrogen also has significant potential, but projects must be developed around credible offtake, renewable-power availability, electrolyser utilisation, water requirements, storage and the economics of the complete value chain.
Land-constrained applications will also expand. Floating solar, agrivoltaics, BIPV, RIPV, industrial rooftops and solar installations integrated with transport infrastructure can unlock new capacity, but each introduces specialised structural, environmental, access, safety and maintenance considerations.
A further opportunity lies in the existing asset base. Repowering, life-extension, end-of-life planning, recycling, forensic RCA and independent performance improvement will grow as projects age. The consultancy market will therefore broaden from project development to full lifecycle advisory covering investment, design, construction, operation, failure investigation and eventual repowering or decommissioning.
7 What are the key priorities for Prasino Tech Services over the next 3–5 years, and how do you plan to strengthen your contribution to India’s growing renewable energy ecosystem?
Prasino Tech is an independent renewable-energy engineering and technical-advisory organisation serving developers, EPC companies, lenders, investors and asset owners in India and selected international markets. Our services include detailed engineering, DPR and feasibility studies, energy-yield assessment, power-system studies, technical due diligence, Owner’s and Lender’s Engineering, audits, factory inspections, commissioning support and RCA/CAPA. We also undertake 3D modelling and civil and structural design for digester-based facilities.
We provide Plant Power Controller (PPC) solutions covering control-logic development, on-site integration, testing and successful commissioning. Our growing capabilities in BESS, hybrid systems and grid studies include dispatch optimisation, protection studies, control philosophy and plant-level performance assessment.
Digitalisation is already central to our delivery approach. We are developing and using in-house Python programs for energy optimisation, data analysis and process standardisation. Over the next three years, we plan to develop proprietary engineering software that automates repetitive activities, improves consistency, shortens delivery timelines and makes high-quality consulting more efficient and affordable.
Our ambition is to establish Prasino Tech as one of the most dependable and technically respected engineering partners in the renewable-energy sector. We aspire to become a publicly listed company within the next three years, supported by strong governance, scalable systems, technical depth and enduring client relationships. Ultimately, we want our work to create confidence that every project is technically sound, bankable, safe, compliant and capable of delivering its intended performance.
