Pressure on India to increase coal based power capacity in view of growing demand
Mumbai: On the one hand, while India has a target to increase renewable power generation by reducing pollution, especially coal-based power generation, the Energy Minister said that there is a plan to increase coal-based power generation by 25 percent by 2030.
Coal-based power capacity will be added by 56 gigawatts, apart from a drastic reduction in the cost of renewable energy storage, said Power Minister Raj Kumar Singh in an interview to a news agency.
India needs more energy to meet economic growth, he said. India plans to invest heavily in renewable energy generation, but also wants to prioritize guaranteed power supply to spur growth.
This statement of the energy minister raises a question mark against the plan to shift towards clean energy in the country. Demand for coal in Europe has increased after Russia cut gas supplies.
In the summer of the current year, massive power cuts were observed in India. This cut came due to the increase in power demand. Keeping this fact in mind, the government is slowing down the closure of old coal-fired power plants and increasing coal production.
We cannot compromise with development, Singh further said in the interview. India will not hesitate to import coal. Availability of electricity is essential.
India has a target of reaching 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030. He also said that India needs low-cost storage systems to ensure continuous supply of renewable energy.
He criticized developed countries for not investing enough to develop storage technology. China holds most of the world's lithium, which is a cause for concern. Lithium is an important raw material for making electric batteries.
Comments
Post a Comment