Last week I wrote about the score in general as far as the climate change phenomenon is concerned. I presented quite a dismal picture on the state of affairs for the planet. The devastating effects of climate change because of the excessive amounts of carbon we are emitting every day is causing global warming that is unprecedented.
70% of this has come from burning fossil fuels like coal to supply electricity to the world. In India, more than 300 million people do not get electricity at all, and another 300 million do not get electricity when they need it.
If burning coal to produce electricity is causing damage, will we be able to develop enough clean renewable energy infrastructure that can act as a substitute? Yes! It is possible and India is doing it as we speak….
India has set itself a target of 350 GW of electricity from renewable energy (250 GW from solar and 100 GW from wind) sources by 2030, when 40% of our electricity will be from renewable energy sources. Of this, 100 GW from solar and 60 GW from wind will be in place by by 2020.
Indian coal companies are moving into solar! Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), has announced its third solar power project of 65 MW capacity at Neyveli at a cost of Rs 350 crores. The project is expected to be commissioned in the first week of June 2017, and consists of 238,000 solar photovoltaic modules with a power generating capacity of 280-310 watts each.
NLC has plans to establish 4,000 MW of solar capacity in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, and Rajasthan. The company's first solar project of 10 MW capacity got commissioned in September 2015 and the the second solar power project with a capacity of 65 MW commenced in July 2016.
The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) issued a tender to set up 200 MW of solar capacity along with a storage facility in Karnataka's Pavagada solar power park. Pavagada solar power park is among around 25 solar parks approved by the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. The planned capacity of the solar park is 5 GW, making it one of the largest power projects in India.
National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has already auctioned 500 MW of capacity for the solar park. More capacity is expected to be auctioned soon by NTPC Limited as well as SECI. This new tender comes only days after SECI issued the first solar power storage tender of 100 MW capacity for the 1 GW Kadapa solar power park in Andhra Pradesh.
India also plans to set up 10 GW of solar based Pumped Hydro Storage Capacity. The entire plan is expected to require a total investment of Rs. 80,000 crore. In this project, solar power will be combined with hydro power pumped storage to maximize the use of renewable energy and keep the carbon footprint of power generation minimal.
Solar power projects will be set up near water reservoirs. During daytime, a part of the solar power generated will be used to pump the water up the hill, while during the night the water will be released downhill to generate hydro power in the conventional manner.
This process will avoid the requirement to store solar energy in batteries. The total potential of setting up pumped storage capacity in India is estimated to be around 90 GW. The CEA is believed to have identified sites to set up 10 GW of pumped storage capacity.
There is a lot happening in India. Indians ought to be proud of what the nation is trying to do. We now need to ask ourselves, what can we do as individuals to support the ambitions of the country. Ask not what the country will do for you, but what you will now do to support this mission of the country.
