The share of solar energy in India’s power generation could equal coal-fired output by 2040, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said, driven by falling renewable tariffs and a government push to increase green energy use.
Coal currently dominates India’s electricity sector, accounting for over 70% of overall generation with only about 4% produced through solar.
India was on track to exceed its commitments as a part of the 2015 Paris agreement, the IEA said.
“This dramatic turnaround is driven by India’s policy ambitions, notably the target to reach 450 GW of renewable capacity by 2030, and the extraordinary cost‐competitiveness of solar,” the agency said.
India has the potential to become a world leader in battery storage, the IEA said, adding the country could add 140-200 GW capacity of battery by 2040 as this would help India in aligning its solar‐led generation peak in the middle of the day with the country’s early evening peak in demand.
Still, India’s emissions of carbon dioxide could rise as much as 50% by 2040, the largest of any country, enough to offset entirely the projected fall in emissions in Europe over the same period.
That would also make India the second largest emitter of carbon dioxide, trailing only China.
India needs to expand pollution policies and sharply reduce coal‐fired generation to reduce its power sector’s emissions, the IEA said, adding current regulations were inadequate and utilities rarely deployed pollution cutting technology.
The IEA also warned that hundreds of thousands more could die every year due to higher exposure to air pollution, with the number of annual deaths potentially increasing by 200,000 from current levels to 1.4 million a year in 2040.
This article is based on IEA’s India Energy Outlook 2021 Report; edited by Clean-Future Team