The renewable energy sectors are currently witnessing a massive transformation globally with the prospect graph reaching new heights. With the rise of exhaustible energy crises and other environmental hazards, people have become much more aware of clean and sustainable energy sources. The natural sources of energy used by prominent global powers as renewable energy technology are solar radiation energy, wind energy, tidal energy, biomass energy, and geothermal energy.
Major countries like the United States, Canada, Sweden, Finland, and Brazil, among others, are going the extra mile to shoot up their renewable energy capacity. Governments are procuring advanced technologies and improvising them on a regular basis to leave no stone unturned on the renewable energy front. India being the 4th largest country in total renewable power capacity stands as a prominent energy force globally. Reportedly, India’s electricity generation from renewable energy is expected to surge up to 50-70% by 2040, a significantly high jump from the current renewable energy consumption of the nation.
The green energy industry has contributed at large to India’s climate change, environmental and health facets, social and economic development, and etc. Consequently, India has joined hands with the United nations in the mission of addressing the rising temperatures in all its major cities and help reducing carbon footprint on a global scale. In this blog, we have typically thrown light on the current trends, opportunities, and future prospects of the Indian green energy industry for our fellow readers.
The evolution of renewable energy sectors in India
Renewable energy as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels is long thought and executed by India. India has been a part of major green energy initiatives like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992 and the 2015 Paris Agreement. Both initiatives were to address the alarming rate of man-made greenhouse gases leading to global warming and catastrophic health conditions. The primary mission of India, a vast country with a huge population and per capita power consumption of
1.3 MWh, was to reduce carbon emissions significantly. The other major boost for India to accelerate its renewable energy hunt was the disruption of oil supply from the Middle East leading to a global recession.
However, India has far surpassed its ambition by attaining 175 GW of renewable energy by the year 2022 and is further targeting a whooping number of 500 GW by 2030. The energy graph is divided into 100 GW of solar energy, 60 GW of wind power, 10 GW of bio-power, and 46 GW of hydropower. India has a long-standing history of producing electricity from renewable energy, be it from the nuclear reactors of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) or from the windmills developed by the National Aeronautical Laboratory (NAL). The International Solar Alliance (ISA) in India, inaugurated by honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January 2016 has further spearheaded the use of solar energy and made it a domestic name used for cooking, lighting, etc. for millions of Indians.
There are multiple ongoing and future projects witnessed by India on the green energy aspect. For example, the National Hydrogen Mission launched in 2013 has successfully helped India to be the world’s largest hydrogen hub. We can stack more examples from the massive UJALA LED bulb campaign and the Net Zero Emissions initiative of the Indian Railways to reduce emissions by 40 million and 60 million tonnes annually.
Renewable energy demand in India at present
We can estimate the current energy demand in India from the quotes of the Union Power and Renewable Energy Minister RK Singh, “You see, my installed capacity of RE is about 190 GW, I have 103 GW under construction, that makes it 290 GW. I have 72 GW under bids, so I am already at about 360 GW.” The Indian government has started boosting wind power initiatives in the country for continuous power supply with a target to auction 10 GW on standalone wind projects.
Few of the government schemes and policies are the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Missions, the Production Linked Scheme — launched to increase the manufacturing capacities of solar panels, the Solar Park Scheme — dedicated to setting up 50 solar parks of 500 MW each, etc. In addition to these, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has laid the foundation of two new transformative projects- the Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana, targeting to equip 10 million low and middle-income households across the country with rooftop solar systems and the Pradhan Mantri KUSUM (Kisan Urja Suraksha Evan Utthaan Mahabhiyan) program, dedicated to familiarizing Indian farmers with the concept of renewable energy technology.
Considering the fact that a lot of these initiatives are in fact for the middle-class sector of the country, the words of Elizabeth May, the world-famous environmentalist certainly struck my mind.
