As per the recent report of Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) Karnataka has emerged as top state in installing renewable energy overtaking Tamil Nadu, which had long been India’s top renewable energy performer.
Karnataka is leading state for renewable energy in India, reaching 12.3 gigawatts (GW) of total installed capacity as of March 2018, having added 5 GW in 2017-18 alone. It had been building its wind energy capacity steadily over the past 10 years, but it moved ahead of Tamil Nadu due to a rapid scaling up of solar capacity in 2017-18, when it installed more than 4 GW of new photovoltaic generation.
Currently, the state has 5 GW of solar capacity and 4.7 GW of wind capacity.
It’s mentioned in report that Karnataka’s progressive leadership offers a positive role model of electricity system transformation for the rest of India. As other states follow Karnataka’s lead, India is set to take its place as a global leader in decarbonisation.
The merits of adopting increasingly low-cost technology innovation and more sustainable development provides India with an alternative path to the now outdated plan of increased reliance on expensive fossil fuel imports, with all the associated externalities of water, air, particulate and fly ash pollution, plus rising current account deficits, ongoing currency devaluation and energy-induced inflation.
Reference- TOI, IEEFA report
