Union Power and New & Renewable Energy Minister R. K. Singh stated during a speech at an event in the Capital that we require another PLI plan for grid scale storage in order to increase capacity and provide continuous renewable energy
The tale of India's development in the energy sector and its outlook for the future were presented to the business and investor community by Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy, R. K. Singh. The Minister noted that the Government of India has been working relentlessly on energy access, energy efficiency, sustainability, and security, the four pillars of India's future in the energy sector. The Minister was speaking at an event in Delhi.
The Minister stated that because pump hydropower projects are expensive to develop, the government has adopted a programme to support them. “Huge capacities of Pumped Hydro projects are coming up. At the same time, we need to build batteries for grid storage. We need to have another PLI scheme for grid scale storage, so that we can augment capacity and have round-the-clock renewable energy. We will keep adding storage to ensure that demand goes up and investment keeps happening.”
The Minister stated that because pump hydropower projects are expensive to develop, the government has adopted a programme to support them. “Today, 42% of our energy capacity is from non-fossil-fuels. We have made a commitment to take this to 50% by 2030, but we shall achieve 65% of capacity from non-fossil-fuels by 2030. We will add 50 GW of capacity every year. We have emerged as the fastest growing renewable energy destination.” According to Singh, we will not be afraid to add the thermal capacity we may need in order to satisfy our energy needs, even as we grow renewable energy capacity at the fastest rate. “Our pace of energy transition will be the fastest in the world, but we will not compromise with our energy needs. In 2030, I see the capacity crossing 800 GW, and that is at a conservative rate of growth.”
The Minister reminded the crowd that while the global average per person is approximately 6 tonnes, India's per capita emissions are closer to 2 tonnes. India has historically contributed only 4% of the world's emissions while having the fifth-largest economy and 17% of its population there. According to the Minister, the government is concerned about the need for an energy transition because it wants to leave a healthy planet for future generations. We cannot afford to continue adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, the Minister stressed, emphasising the need to transition to a Net Zero future rather than a low-carbon one.
According to the Minister, the Indian economy will continue to expand at its current rate for the next two to three decades, and we will continue to satisfy our energy demands to support this expansion. More and more charging stations are being added. The Minister declared that we seek to lessen our reliance on foreign energy sources. The Minister emphasised the necessity for the nation to prioritise green hydrogen. “We need to reduce importing coal for blending. We need to strengthen our logistics from coal-bearing areas and also exploit our coal reserves, for which we are auctioning coal blocks so that our dependence on imports reduces. Our feed stock too has to transition, for which green hydrogen is a priority area and a huge opportunity. We have set a target of setting up at least 5 million tons of green hydrogen by the year 2030.”
The Minister also emphasised the necessity of supply chain diversity using technologies like sodium ion. In the upcoming years, he claimed, there will be an increase in battery storage capacity of around 100 GW, of which about 50 GW will be available for export.
The Minister concluded by emphasising that in order to achieve the goal of energy transformation, we must fight to provide renewable energy access to the millions of Africans who currently lack it. The International Solar Alliance, he claimed, is working towards it, but no other nation outside India has stepped forward to support the initiative. “Energy availability at affordable prices will remain a question in the times to come; market design is an issue; we should be able to help those who do not have energy access. We need to put mechanisms in place so that countries in Africa get investment. All of us need to get together and start manufacturing renewable energy capacity, we need to make sure that green hydrogen succeeds so that feedstock transitions; we should not set trade barriers.”