Reuters report India’s leading companies are interested in building at least 10 gigawatts of coal-fired power plants over the next 10 years, expanding some of their existing plants and making coal-fired power a disadvantage to environmentalists. It was announced on Tuesday that the company has expressed interest in reviving the project, which was stalled when the
“Potential investments that were previously unreported could cumulatively cost billions of dollars, and could represent new ambition in an industry that many view as financially unattractive. But they also threaten to undermine progress in decarbonizing the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter,” Reuters said.
India currently has around 215 GW of coal-fired power generation, 47 GW of hydropower and 135 GW of renewable energy. Government and private sector officials told Reuters they feel India has done enough to reduce emissions and now needs to focus on building affordable and reliable power capacity to meet industrial needs. he said.
If anything, the support for coal-fired power plants expressed by big companies like Adani Power and Essar Power is muted compared to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s calls for more. 80 Increase coal-fired power generation to GW by 2032.
Ministry of Power of India Said In November, 27 gigawatts of coal-fired power plants were already under construction, and the government wanted to attract private investors to finance an additional 55 to 60 gigawatts. India’s electricity demand hit a record high last year, and it has the world’s fourth-largest coal reserves to meet that demand.
“India needs 24×7 access to power for economic growth. We will not compromise on power availability for growth,” the power ministry said in November.
“This power cannot be achieved through renewable energy sources alone. Nuclear power capacity cannot be rapidly increased, so coal-based thermal power capacity needs to be added to meet energy demand,” the ministry said. .
Power ministry officials said solar power is too unreliable and dependent on weather conditions to meet the surge in demand, but India still plans to build more green energy power plants. .
prime minister modi promised In 2021, India, the world’s third largest carbon emitter, is expected to source half of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and reach “net-zero” emissions by 2070. This is about 20 years behind comparable commitments in the United States and Europe. Building an additional 60-80 GW of coal-fired power by 2032 will require a large number of high-profile low-emissions projects to balance the high-emissions coal-fired power that India sorely needs. Unless it is built, it will be very difficult to meet the initial promise.
There were no major events. private investment India has been introducing coal-fired power generation since 2018, partly due to environmental concerns and partly because coal-fired power generation is a low-margin, somewhat risky project. Prime Minister Modi has been trying to attract investors to expand coal-fired power generation for almost six years, but if comments from major companies to Reuters on Tuesday are any indication, he has finally succeeded. .
Another obstacle to coal-fired power generation is the amount of labor required to dig the coal and transport it to where it is needed. India will run out of coal in 2021 and 2022; increase dramatically production.
The mood at India’s coal industry conference was ‘very bullish’ covered In February, Reuters reported that experts predicted demand could surge by at least 25% to 2 billion tonnes from 2030 onwards.
“Optimism about the future of coal in India’s energy mix is largely driven by a shift in thinking by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to prioritize energy security and domestic resources over carbon emission reductions to mitigate climate change. ” Reuters said at the time.
