We are more responsible for electricity crisis than coal: If we had not been behind the target 45% in renewable energy, then electricity would have been 68 times

When there was a power crisis in the country due to the shortage of coal, the discussion of solar and wind energy, that is, renewable, again gained momentum. By the way, India had set a target in 2016 itself that by 2022, renewable energy capacity should be reached to 1,75,000 MW. But, the reality remained that till April 2022, the total capacity of solar and wind energy in India could be only 96,000 MW.

Climate Risk Horizon also wrote in the report on this year’s power crisis – ‘If India had achieved its target of renewable energy by 2022, this would not have happened.’ In April, there were reports of severe power cuts in most parts of the country due to a shortfall of 10 crore units per day for 8 days.

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The target of 175 GW renewable energy in 2022 was

To achieve the 2030 target of 500 GW of renewable energy, 40 GW plus solar and wind energy installations will need to be installed annually from 2022 onwards.

According to the report, if that target had been achieved, 683 crore units of electricity would have been available daily, ie 68 times more electricity during the times of crisis. On top of that, 44.2 lakh tonnes of coal would have been left over. Ashish Fernandes of Climate Risk Horizon said that the electricity supply from renewable energy in the country is only 11% of the total supply.

Last year, we developed 13 GW of solar power installations, which should have been in 2016 to achieve the target of 175 GW in 2022. Now to achieve the target of 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030, 40 GW plus solar and wind energy installations will have to be installed annually from 2022.

Renewable Energy Expert Abhishek Raj said that policies regarding renewable energy are not the same in all states. Because of this, the southern and western states are doing very well and the rest are not. In addition, there is a lack of policy stability. As the government changed in Andhra, it canceled the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) of the previous government. This reduces the interest of international investors.

The long delay in payment to the generation company on behalf of the distribution company discom was also a big hurdle. Discoms of well performing states are also in huge debt. Exemption to sell rooftop generated power like Delhi and setting up of battery storage capacity projects with renewable power plants on the lines of Andhra will benefit.