India has its goal of achieving 175GW from renewable energy sources. In the INDC goals submitted under Paris Deal, it aims to achieve about 40 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030.

India’s current energy mix:

                India’s thermal coal base, which still provides over 60 per cent of the country’s overall electricity generation, is still growing. India is the third largest emitter of green house gases – around 2.3 Giga tons annually.

CaseStudy: BP’s most recent energy outlook published just a few weeks back. It avers that in 2040, fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) will account for between 70-75 per cent of India’s primary energy consumption — down from approximately 90 per cent today. Of that, coal will account for 45 per cent (down from the current 55 per cent); oil 20 per cent (down from 30 per cent today) and natural gas at the same levels as today of around seven per cent. Renewables market share will increase to 15 per cent up from the current 3-4 per cent. Consequently, India will import 95 per cent of its oil requirements; 60 per cent of its gas requirements and 30 per cent of its coal requirements (despite the fact that it contains the fifth largest deposits of coal in the world). India will meet its Paris commitments to reduce GHG emissions by 35 per cent in 2035 relative to 2005. But, given this level of fossil fuel consumption, it will be one of the largest absolute emitters of pollutants in the world.

Challenges faced to adopt renewable energy:

• Huge Dependency on Coal:

1. Individual level:

• Roughly 15-20 million people in the coal belt are dependent on the coal industry, either directly or indirectly, for their livelihood.
• Jobs in the renewable energy sector will not be coming to the coal belt in large numbers.

1. Industry level:

• Over 50 power plants in the country are dependent on the coal from Central India belt.
• According to the Integrated Energy Policy prepared by the Planning Commission of India, even under a least coal usage scenario, coal will supply more than 40% of the primary commercial energy even in 2031-32.
• The Union Cabinet recently approved a new hydroelectricity policy that, among other things, included large hydro projects within the ambit of renewable energy. However, DISCOMS are reluctant sign Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) Hydro Power due to higher tariff, particularly, in the initial years.
• The major commercial deterrents for the private developers are high capital cost and long payback period due to high gestation period which may also create issues in financing.
• The other issue related to Hydropower projects is financing and evacuation. Hydro Power projects are capital-intensive and financing them for long such as 20 years is really a challenge.
• The costs of transitioning to renewables — whether calculated in terms of the sunk costs of stranded thermal power assets or the creation of transmission and distribution infrastructure to overcome the problem of “intermittency” (the sun does not shine all the time; nor does the wind blow with regularity) are huge.
• There are technological (like storage or carbon sequestration) and regulatory (conservation norms, emissions standards) issues to overcome before clean energy can be brought to scale.

Way forward:

• Holistic approach:
  • India must stop looking energy sector from a disaggregated picture and encourages a siloed approach to energy governance.
  • A general equilibrium macro model is required that captures linkages (between fuel usage, electricity, mobility, industry, and agriculture, on the one hand, and, ecology on the other) and enables decision-makers to consider the systemic implications of changes in one or more of these variables.
• Appropriate institutional structures of decision-making:
  • The current structure of multiple “energy” ministries (petroleum, coal, renewables, power, atomic) should be collapsed into one omnibus Ministry of Energy and Environment.
  • This will enable integrated decision making; it will also provide a platform for collaborative public-private and constructively “disruptive” innovation.
  • Besides, it will also bring sustainability to the fore of policy.
• Legislation:
  • The government should use its newly derived mandate to legislate an “Energy and Environment Security” Act.
  • The purpose should be to engage the public in the larger debate on how to weaken if not break the current unhealthy nexus between economic growth, energy demand and environmental degradation.
  • It should be to elevate the objective of wreaking an energy “discontinuity” into a national priority.

Conclusion:

IPCC’s special report on global warming warned that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees would require rapid, far reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society. India must speedup her efforts to shift towards renewable energy to meet her socio-economic goals in a sustainable manner.