Cement, Energy and Environment

10% of its power production from solar, wind , hydropower and other renewable sources by 2015, and 15% by 2020. India has a power generation capacity of 245,394 megawatts (MW), of which only 13%, or 31 ,692MW, is contributed by renewable sources. "The ministry of new and renewable energy resources has the technical expertise. Also, the oil sector, public sector units have large funds available under their corporate social responsibility programmes. This will be ploughed towards the new firms," said the government official quoted above. The Bharatiya Janata Party that swept to power in the April-May general election under the \ leadership of 'Narendra Modi has stressed the need for reinforcing energy security. The Modi-led government's energy security plans include harnessing renewable sources such as solar energy, biomass and wind power along with coal, gas, hydropower and nuclear power to bring about an "energy revolution" in the country. India, which is dependent on imports to meet its energy demand, has an energy import bill of around $150 billion. This is expected to reach $300 billion by 2030, requiring a $3.6 trillion payout by 2030. "My government will come out with a comprehensive National Energy Policy and focus on development of energy-related infrastructure , human resource and technology, " President Pranab Mukherjee told Parliament on 9 June. 'The aim of the government will be to substantially augment electricity generation capacity through judicious mix of conventional and non– conventional sources." Developing renewable energy wi ll also help reduce dependence on coal, which is in short supply domestically, requiring imports of the mineral to fuel most of India's power plants. India is also exploring options to make it compulsory for conventional power project developers to build renewable capacity at the same location, a move that can provide an impetus to ecofriendly electricity. There is a need to integrate conventional and renewable power generation as India's overdependence on coal needs to be reversed. Courtesy: The Mint, New Delhi, 10.06.2014, Pg. No. 11-12 GOVT PLANS~ 2 LAKH-CR SOLAR AND WIND POWER PROJECTS IN DESERTS With depleting fossil fueld reserves and environmental concerns surround ingconventional power generation, the government has started work on a long-term plan to tap · into India's solar and wind potential lying unexplored in its deserts. The plan could entail an investment of over Rs 2 lakh crore by 2022. The idea is to set up renewable energy generation capacity, including both solar and wind , along with the associated evacuation infrastructure, at a mega scale in the four Indian deserts - Thar in Rajasthan, Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, Lahul & Spiti in Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh in Jammu & Kashmir. The country's largest power transmission utility, Powergrid Corporation, has already submitted its report detailing the renewable potential available, cost of setting up the projects and their economic viability to the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE). "The informal report aims at sensitisation of the feasibility of the plan. Further work will have to be done by MNRE," a senior Powergrid official toldBusiness Standard. According to an estimate, implementing the scheme would require an investment of Rs.208,350 crore, including Rs 108,000 crore for setting up 11 ,100 Mw capacity generation projects (1 0,400 Mw of solar and 700 Mw of wind), Rs 19,800 crore for laying transmission lines and Rs 80,000 crore for balancing infrastructure (pumped and battery storage projects). The overall fund requirement would go up to Rs 16 lakh crore for extending the plan to 2032 and further Rs 43 lakh crore by 2050. According to the implementation strategy, a National Desert Mission will have to be formulated with provision for single window clearance on the lines of conventional ultra mega power projects, INVESTMENT RE3UIREMENT IN 13TH PLAN (2022 t"CRORE Estl mated cost Generation 1.08,550 Wind 700 Mw 4,550 Solar-10,400 Mw 1,04,000 Transmission 19.800 Intra-state 5,000 tnter--state 14,800 Other .,alandng infrastructure 80,000 Pumped stor-age 40,000 Batterystorage 40,000 :Total Estimated Cost 2,08, 350 SouKe: Desert PoWI!r 2DSO RC!port, P<iOl 27