Biodiversity & Environment
India’s Achievements of Renewable Energy Target
- 30 Dec 2021
- 7 min read
For Prelims: Schemes and programmes for Achieving Renewable Energy Target
For Mains: India's achievements in renewable energy sector, India's renewables energy targets, challenges and initiatives taken to achieve it.
Why in News
India has achieved its target of achieving 40% of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil energy sources by 2030 in November 2021.
- India had committed to this target at COP 21 (UNFCCC) , as part of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) (Paris Agreement).
Key Points
- Renewable Energy (RE) Capacity of India:
- The country’s installed Renewable Energy (RE) capacity stands at 150.54 GW (solar: 48.55 GW, wind: 40.03 GW, Small hydro Power: 4.83, Bio-power: 10.62, Large Hydro: 46.51 GW) as on 30th Nov. 2021 while its nuclear energy based installed electricity capacity stands at 6.78 GW.
- India has the 4th largest wind power capacity in the world.
- This brings the total non-fossil based installed energy capacity to 157.32 GW which is 40.1% of the total installed electricity capacity of 392.01 GW.
- At the COP26 India is committed to achieving 500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by the year 2030.
- The country’s installed Renewable Energy (RE) capacity stands at 150.54 GW (solar: 48.55 GW, wind: 40.03 GW, Small hydro Power: 4.83, Bio-power: 10.62, Large Hydro: 46.51 GW) as on 30th Nov. 2021 while its nuclear energy based installed electricity capacity stands at 6.78 GW.
- Challenges in Achieving the Target:
- Mobilization of the Necessary Finance:
- Gearing up the banking sector for arranging finances for larger deployment goals, exploring low-interest rate, long-term international funding, and developing a suitable mechanism for risk mitigation or sharing by addressing both technical and financial bottlenecks are major challenges.
- Land Acquisition:
- Identification of land with Renewable Energy potential, its conversion (if needed), clearance from land ceiling Act, decision on land lease rent, clearance from revenue department, and other such clearances take time.
- State governments have to play a major role in acquisition of land for RE projects.
- Creating Ecosystem:
- Creating an innovation and manufacturing eco-system in the country.
- Other:
- Integrating a larger share of renewables with the grid.
- Enabling supply of firm and dispatchable power from renewables.
- Enabling penetration of renewables in the so called hard to decarbonize sectors.
- Mobilization of the Necessary Finance:
Initiatives Taken | |
PM-KUSUM |
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Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme |
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Solar Parks Scheme |
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Roof Top Solar programme Phase-II |
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Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) Scheme |
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Hydrogen Mission |
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International Solar Alliance |
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OSOWOG |
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National Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy |
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National Offshore Wind Energy Policy |
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Other Renewables for Power Generation |
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Way Forward
- Identification of Areas: Renewable resources specially wind cannot be set up everywhere, they require specific location.
- Identification of these specific locations, integrating them with the main grid and distribution of powers, A combination of these three is what will take India forward.
- Exploration: More storage solutions need to be explored.
- Agriculture Subsidy: Agricultural subsidy should be rectified in order to ensure that only the required amount of energy is consumed.
- Hydrogen Fuel Cell Based Vehicles and Electric Vehicles: These are the most suitable options when it comes to shifting towards renewable sources of energy, that’s where we need to work upon.