A new report has indicated that all of India’s new power generation could be from renewable sources by 2026.
According to the report – released today by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) – India’s current installed capacity alongside the capacity under construction will be enough to power the country until around 2026. The report says no new investments are likely to be made in coal-based power generation in the years prior to that.
It goes on to suggest that beyond 2023-24, new power generation capacity could be all renewables, based on cost competitiveness of renewables as well as the ability of the grid to absorb large amounts of renewable energy together with battery-based balancing power.
Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister for Power, Coal, and Renewable Energy, Government of India, said: “Universal access to electricity is one of the primary aims of the Government, and meeting demand is a major facet of this initiative. We see India becoming the energy capital of the world. India is also committed to lowering the emissions intensity of its development in line with our INDCs towards the Paris Agreement. We are looking at several initiatives towards making solar energy price competitive to coal.”
Dr Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI, added: “The target to achieve the UNFCCC commitments presents tremendous opportunity to put India at the forefront of economies transitioning towards low carbon growth. This includes improving electricity access, clean technology development, manufacturing, and job creation. Our report shows that the cost of renewable electricity and its storage is on a steady decline and could stabilise at around Rs 5 per KWh. This would enable India to move decisively towards renewables for future generation. What this ,means is that India has a ten-year window where no new investments are likely to be done in coal, gas, or nuclear energy generation.
“The decarbonisation of power generation is also an opportunity to move other carbon based sectors like transport to electricity, thus multiplying the benefits of clean energy generation.”
