Heatwave and coal crisis are signs India should speed up its renewable energy push

Rising demand for electricity is feeding India’s power crisis as it reshapes its energy grid for the future
Investing in renewable and clean energy, along with strong policies to support and achieve the goals, is the way forward

Kavitha Yarlagadda

Published: 11:45am, 25 May 2022

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Millions are suffering in India’s relentless heatwave. The country experienced its hottest March in over a century. Temperatures went above 46 degrees Celsius last month, with northwest and central Indian seeing their hottest April in more than 120 years.

Construction workers, vendors and workers in the informal sector have struggled to work in this unusually hot summer. Adding to the woes are the frequent power cuts as India faces its worst power crisis in years due to a shortage of coal as prices skyrocket.

In March, India set a record for peak power demand of 201.066 gigawatts (GW) with at least 86 power plants reporting critically low coal stock levels, limiting electricity supply across the country.

The increasing coal and power prices are a sign that India should speed up its move towards domestically produced renewable energy.

India has set renewable energy targets for 2030 and pledges to achieve net zero by 2070. For these to materialise, India should have robust policies and make significant investments to bolster its climate resilience against rising temperatures.

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Global warming and the heat island effect – the phenomenon of heat being retained within cities – are intensifying India’s heatwaves, resulting in unusual temperature rises. Investing in renewable and clean energy, along with strong policies to support and achieve the goals, should see us through the power crisis.

India’s Central Electricity Authority expects national demand for power to rise to 817GW by 2030. Rising consumption across the industrial and residential sectors could see this demand grow by 6.5 per cent annually between 2022 and 2024, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Last year, India’s power demand surged by 10 per cent, sharing the top spot for biggest increase with China.

By the end of this year, the Indian government plans to have 227GW of renewable energy capacity which includes 114GW of solar power and 67GW of wind power. It is working on generating 40GW of electricity from a “rent a roof” initiative for solar rooftop projects by the end of the year. By 2030, it wants to achieve more than 500GW of renewable energy capacity.

Adoption of electric vehicles is set to increase with the support of policies such as the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and EV (FAME) plan, which has been extended until 2024, and the release of an easy guide on electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The IEA expects renewable energy to meet 35 per cent of India’s incremental power demand, with renewable power rising by 30 per cent by 2024.

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Meanwhile, the coal shortage, which started last year, has resulted in the severe power crisis, with several states such as Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Orissa reeling from the surge in electricity demand amid extra-high temperatures.

Andhra Pradesh faces an electricity shortage of 8.7 per cent while Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Haryana have deficits of more than 3 per cent each. High humidity, hot winds and all-time high temperatures are also slowing down physical labour. According to the Central Electricity Authority, 94 out of India’s 165 coal plants were facing critically low coal supplies while eight were not operational as of May 1. As a result, stocks dropped below 25 per cent of normal levels.

About 70 per cent of India’s electricity comes from coal and the fuel shortage has meant power cuts.

India, like China, finds itself in a difficult situation. India has had to increase its reliance on fossil fuels to satisfy its high electricity demand while also reshaping its energy grid to meet the future. As one of the few nations seen as nearly on track to make the 2-degree limit set by the Paris climate agreement, India needs to strike a balance between cutting carbon emissions and producing renewable energy.

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India’s peak electricity demand could be met by wind and solar energy. The country has many sunny days and solar energy can be generated with complete reliability throughout those days. It will not take more than 10 months to set up a renewable project with a capacity of 1GW or more where land can be easily acquired.

Rooftop solar energy can be a game changer for residential and agricultural demand with government schemes such as PM-KUSUM, which ensures energy security for farmers.

Most power shortage problems can be solved by net metering – to enable consumers who produce their own energy to use electricity when they need it – and by allowing the purchasing of power from the open access market in all states.

To overcome energy market volatility, the World Economic Forum stressed the significance of countries diversifying fuel and supply sources in the short term and their energy mix in the long term by investing in more renewables. Chalking out a plan for a year is the key to achieving the country’s renewable goals and overcoming the power crisis.

Kavitha Yarlagadda is an independent writer based in Hyderabad, India. She has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in environmental science

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