India Needs to Double Share of Clean Power to Meet Climate Goals

(Bloomberg) -- The share of clean sources in India's power generation capacity should surge to 90% by 2047 — more than double from now — for the nation to meet its climate goals, federal Power Secretary Alok Kumar said.

The country will need to reduce the share of coal, which currently accounts for about half of its installed capacity and almost 70% of electricity output, and accelerate deployment of clean power plants to meet its international commitments, Kumar said at an event on the sidelines of the G-20 energy transition working group meeting on Monday. 

Reaching this ambitious goal will require domestic capacities for manufacturing green technologies, such as solar modules, battery storage and electrolyzers for making green hydrogen, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is aiming for self-sufficiency in energy by 2047 — the centenary year of India's independence — and is offering incentives for domestic production of green components to meet the country's own needs as well as serve the export markets. Supply chain disruptions worldwide caused during the pandemic have bolstered the country's efforts to emerge as an alternative manufacturing destination, challenging China's dominance.  

“The challenge is huge and if we don't succeed in promoting local manufacturing, India's energy transition will be very, very, difficult,” Kumar said. “There is no alternative.”

The country, which aims to turn net zero by 2070, recently awarded the second tranche of production-linked grants for solar modules. The country is on course to have 100 gigawatts of annual solar modules making capability by the end of 2026, Bhupinder Singh Bhalla, renewable energy secretary, said at the same event. 

The country is also looking to acquire critical mineral assets, such as lithium, in other countries to secure supplies of these materials that will be key to its green shift, Mines Secretary Vivek Bharadwaj said. 

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