Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 40
P. 11
AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec
India to replace coal with
more renewables
INDIA INDIA plans to retire a generation of elderly and Renewables Energy (MNRE) Amitesh Kumar
outdated coal-fired power plants and to replace Sinha said that to meet India’s solar targets, 30
them with solar and wind projects in a bid to GW of modules, cells, wafers and silicon are
have 175 GW of green capacity by 2022. required.
Indian Power Minister R K Singh said this India’s current module manufacturing capac-
week that renewables will replace coal plants that ity is 16 GW, of which around 9-10 GW is oper-
are currently being retired. ational; meanwhile, India’s cell manufacturing
“Many of those plants are getting retired,” capacity is 2.5 GW.
Singh said. “Some plants are already retired, and To stimulate local industry, India has
about 29 more plants are going to retire, and all extended Safeguard Duty on imports of solar
that space will be occupied by renewable energy.” cells and modules by another year, and is plan-
India intends to meet 40% of its energy ning an import tax on solar cells and modules.
requirements from non-fossil fuel sources by Singh said it also wants to increase the level
2030 and aims to have 175 GW of renewable of import duty on solar inverters, which are con-
power capacity by 2022. nected to solar panels to convert the direct-cur-
The green targets come as the country is rent power into usable electricity.
the world’s second-largest coal consumer after “India has the largest renewable energy grow-
China, and the third-largest emitter of green- ing capacity in the world. India had promised on
house gases (GHGs). the sidelines of COP-21 that by 2030, 40% of its
India currently has 373 GW of total generat- energy capacity would be from non-fossil fuel-
ing capacity, over half of which is coal. based sources. We are already at 38.5%, and by
India’s current annual installed and func- 2030, 60% of our energy capacity is expected to
tional manufacturing capacity of solar modules be from non-fossil fuel sources,” Singh said.
is around 10 GW, while that of solar cells is only India, which is hoping to become energy
around 2.5 GW, the minister said. self-reliant to boost its sagging economy, also
However, the country’s green expansion wants to build coastal renewable energy equip-
relies on imports of cheap solar cells. ment manufacturing hubs with the participation
“We plan to raise this capacity to around 25 of private companies.
GW per annum for solar cells and modules in Singh said India’s power demand in Septem-
another two years’ time,” he said. ber was higher than a year earlier, indicating that
Joint Secretary at the Ministry for New and industrial activity is rising.
Week 40 07•October•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P11
