Fossil fuels are deeply tied to electricity generation, industrial operations, and transportation among other crucial sectors and cannot be easily dissociated from energy use. CSTEP focuses on a greater integration of renewables and reduction of waste energy in such sectors. This includes working with utilities to improve rooftop solar penetration, mapping potential of various renewables across the country, and analysing energy usage of MSMEs to reduce their fossil fuel consumption.
Technology Options and Policy Solutions for a Future Powered by Renewable Energy
Flexibility in the grid is paramount for India to meet its renewable energy (RE) ambitions — 450 GW by 2050 as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019. Energy storage systems can enable this flexibility.
Energy storage systems are the next step in India's transition to an RE-dominant future. Although high carbon-emitting thermal energy sources such as coal and petroleum make up a majority of India's energy production, India has set ambitious RE goals — aiming to make RE 80% of its energy mix. Achieving these goals can help India cut its carbon emissions significantly.
How to make rooftop solar attractive to DISCOMs?
India has deployed roughly 300 MW of rooftop solar (RTS) capacity in the first quarter of 2020, taking the overall RTS capacity to 5.74 GW. Yet, the installed capacity falls abysmally short (14%) of the ambitious RTS target of 40 GW by 2022. To make matters worse, the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown brought the RTS sector to a halt — creating a lot of uncertainty. Thus, a strategic and robust plan is essential to revive this segment, as the nation returns to normalcy.
Electricity sector needs revamp
India is still struggling to come to grips with the devastating spin-offs of Covid-19, including the slump in economy. Like other sectors, the power sector too has taken a severe hit, with lowered electricity consumption due to semi-operation of industries. In fact, the dynamic trading price of electricity fell to a three-year low of 60p recently, an indicator of the drop in demand.
Sowing the seeds of a solar power revolution via agro photovoltaics
Agro Photovoltaics (APV) is a unique model of collocating food and fuel. While safeguarding traditional livelihood, it creates new income avenues for farmers. In this Op-ed, the authors observe that government initiatives such as PM-KUSUM can act as catalysts to take this model forward, empowering farmers along the way.
Deep Decarbonising with Distributed RE Systems
According to Niti Aayog, the demand for energy in India is set to grow from the current level of 5,311 TWh to 18,635 TWh by 2047, an increment of 3.5 times. As demand for energy observes an unprecedented increase, it becomes pertinent to explore novel sources of energy, such as distributed renewable energy systems (DRES).
Progress of Renewables in India Since 2015
In February 2015, the Government of India announced the ambitious target of installing 175 GW of renewable energy (RE) by 2021-22. This target comprises 100 GW solar, 60 GW wind, 10 GW biomass and 5 GW small-hydro. Today, the total installed RE capacity is expected to cross 70 GW and account for around 20% of the country's power generation capacity.