India sets a new target for renewable energy capacity
Aims to generate 450 GW by 2030
India has set a new target of its renewable energy capacity to 450 gigawatt (GW) by 2030 in order to cut its greenhouse gases (CHG) emissions and slash oil and gas imports. If the target is achieved, the share of renewables in the energy generation mix could rise to 40 percent by 2030 from about 17.3 percent today.
Continuing steep falls in the cost of renewables, a sharp rise in coal taxes and long sunny days (more than 300) help the rise of renewables in India. Indian renewables now cost less than three rupees (US$0.04) per kilowatt-hour, well below coal at four rupees per kilowatt-hour, according to Tim Buckley of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, a green think-tank.
Currently, the country generates 80 GW which accounts for almost 50 percent of the total installed electricity capacity. Speaking at India Climate Leaders’ Dialogue in Delhi on 26 September, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said the country had already achieved half of the renewables target for 2022.
The renewables will displace coal, the worst producer of greenhouse gases, which accounts for 56.1 percent of India’s installed electricity capacity (As of 31 August 2019). Other sources contributing to 360-gigawatt (GW) installed power capacity are: Large Hydro 12.6 percent, Small Hydro 1.3 percent, Wind 10.2 percent, Solar 8.3 percent, Biomass 2.6 percent, Nuclear 1.9 percent, Natural Gas 6.9 percent and Diesel 0.1 percent.
The high use of coal in power generation makes India the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the US. The new renewable target set by India is one of a variety of measures being planned or adopted by the Indian government to fulfill the its commitment under the Paris accord, which aims to keep global temperatures from rising two (2) Celsius above those in pre-industrial times. Other measures being worked by the government include an extensive afforestation, creation of a 1,400-kilometre “Green Wall”, restoration of degraded land, and a vigorous promotion of electric automobiles.
Until the first half of 2019 India had already committed US$90 billion investment in the renewable energy sector and emerged as a leading investor of green energy projects, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The UNEP’s “Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2019” report ranks China as the top investor with US$758 billion having committed on green energy projects during the 2010-19 decade, followed by the U.S. with US$356 billion and Japan with US$202 billion.
The report points at the capital costs attributed to some of the largest projects financed in 2018 to highlight the highly competitive nature of the Indian solar market. This included the NLC Tangedco photovoltaic (PV) plant and Adani Karnataka portfolio.
The report also noted that auctions in 2017 and 2018 delivered highly competitive tariffs for wind projects in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, and the commissioning of these from 2019 onward is expected to expand the market to 5-6 GW annually. India is starting to emerge as an offshore wind market, with the government eyeing up to 1 GW of projects along the coast of Gujarat.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has said its efforts for transparent bidding and facilitation for procurement of power at competitive rates have resulted in significant downward trend in solar and wind power tariffs. “Wind power tariffs has fallen from Rs 4.18 per unit in 2016 to Rs.2.43 per unit during last year and even today it remains below Rs 2.75 per unit. Similarly, solar tariffs have fallen from Rs 4.43 per unit (with VGF) to Rs 2.44 per unit,” MNRE said.
The official statement also asserted that India’s journey for expanding the share of renewables in the energy mix has not been without continuous challenges stating that when the Andhra Pradesh government announced intention to revisit already signed Power Purchase Agreements, the Ministry very quickly clarified that no PPAs can be revisited unless there is a clause to do so in such agreement or a case of malafide of corruption is proved beyond doubt.
By the end of September 2019, India had installed over 82,580 MW of renewable energy capacity with around 31,150 MW of capacity under various stages of installation. “Thus, by the first quarter of 2021, India would have installed more than 1,13,000 MW of renewable power capacity. This would constitute nearly 65 per cent of the targeted capacity,” MNRE said.
The ministry added that in addition around 39,000 MW of renewable power capacity is at various stages of bidding which would be installed by September 2021, taking the percentage of installed capacity to over 87 percentage of the targeted capacity. “With only 23,000 MW of renewable power capacity left to bid, India is confident that the target of installing 1,75,000 MW of renewable power capacity will not only be met but exceeded,” the statement said.
India’s renewable power capacity has increased from 34,000 MW in March 2014 to 82,580 MW recording 138 percent growth. Globally, India stands at the fifth position in solar power, fourth in wind power and fourth in total renewable power installed capacity. If large hydro is also included, the country stands third in renewable power capacity globally.
