Clean Energy
   Date :28-Jul-2019

 
 
By ANSHUMAN BHARGAVA
“Alternate energy is the only way to go for and India has already taken a big lead in transforming from a conventional renewable energy-based system to innovative non-renewable energy format. The aim should be to stick to energy generation targets.”
“Once India gets self –sufficient or nearly so in its clean energy goals, it can then assist other countries too in reaching those goals through technology and power-sharing. India has set a very promising trajectory and its progress so far in the direction of clean energy goals has been commendable, especially in the last five years.” EXPERTS say that the member-nations of the Bimstec could benefit from India’s rapid renewable energy capacity increase and this could be the beginning of a new era of development for these countries.
 
 
New Delhi-based organisation Carbon Copy has said that the annual electricity trade potential between South Asian and Southeast Asian countries could be from 65,000 MW to 95,000 MW by 2045. Quoting the Integrated Research and Action for Development (IRADe), a document compiled by it, says electricity trade between South Asian countries could reach 60,000 MW by 2045 if South Asian economies continue to grow at 6.5 per cent. However, a World Bank study puts the figure to be well over 95,000 MW. The report states Cross Border Electricity Trade could be the vehicle through which India supplies 100 per cent renewable energy to its neighbours.
 
 
India has a target of installing 175 GW of wind and solar energy by 2022. If achieved, that would be close to 50 per cent of India’s current total installed power capacity. With more than 40 GW worth of existing coal-fired power plant under financial stress in India, this fiscal has seen India’s renewable energy ambition increase even further to 275 GW by 2027. According to the Global Energy Monitor, India in 2018 permitted less than 3 GW of coal-fired power plant for construction, compared to an annual average of 31 GW from 2008 to 2012 and 13 GW from 2013 to 2017. For the second year in a row, India added more solar and wind power capacity in 2018 than thermal power capacity. India’s cross border electricity trade between South Asian and Southeast Asian countries could also be a green alternative to China’s coal-heavy Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
 
 
South Asian countries have national electrification goals that need to align with responsible climate action. Bangladesh, for instance, has a renewable energy target of 20 GW by 2021, while the Maldives has a target of 60 per cent solar power by 2020 as part of their carbon-neutral plan and has signed a pact with India. Sri Lanka has expressed a keen interest in a cleaner and cheaper energy cooperation with India. Tim Buckley, Director Energy Finance Studies with the US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said that India was entering the centre stage of the world in terms of the critical global issues relating to energy-climate-decarbonisation policies. “With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clearly articulated and highly ambitious vision of 275 GW of renewables by 2027, India has emerged as a world leader in the renewable energy sector,” Buckley said.
 
 
Bimstec is a regional technical and economic cooperation platform of seven nations around the Bay of Bengal that include apart from India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Malaysia and Thailand. Energy is the most topical, urgent and viable cooperation vertical at this time that can strengthen the Bimstec alliance and make it more relevant. It is one sector India can decidedly play a leading role. The energy crisis, energy generation and energy management are the key factors that will decide the level of cooperation and how secure a future we pave the way for. Energy is an emergent need of all developing economies and demand is going to rise exponentially in the coming years with the growth of industries, businesses and human population. Coal deposits are depleting fast, and even if we forget for a while the pollution factor, coal is not going to serve us for long. Alternate energy is the only way to go for and India has already taken a big lead in transforming from a conventional renewable energy-based system to innovative non-renewable energy format. The aim should be to stick to energy generation targets.
 
 
Once India gets self –sufficient or nearly so in its clean energy goals, it can then assist other countries too in reaching those goals through technology and power-sharing. India has set a very promising trajectory and its progress so far in the direction of clean energy goals has been commendable, especially in the last five years. The NDA Government under Prime Minister Modi has given the right impetus to clean energy initiatives and the same commitment is needed to be sustained. Before 2014, things in the direction moved slowly and over several years we had been able to set up a very modest infrastructure for non-conventional energy production which has seen a quantum jump in the recent past. There is still a huge potential in India as well as the Bimstec nations to harness wind, solar and nuclear energy to the hilt. Once all the resources are properly exploited, there will be ample power to light up all homes in the whole subcontinent and beyond. More than that, greater cooperation between the member nations and energy and technology sharing partnerships will enhance strategic ties and act as a counterforce against China’s overtures at dominating the western Asian region that includes Pakistan.
 
 
The greatest advantage is that while China is still banking on its huge coal deposits, India and Bimstec are a step ahead with a more progressive model that is the future of the world and has global technological and financial backing. Thermal power is fast getting an obsolete and regressive proposition and there can be no going back on it even as there is a global push and thrust towards clean energy, with several countries aggressively pursuing a targeted objective of shifting completely to renewable energy sources.
 
 
India can leverage its clean energy lead to strengthen political, military and diplomatic ties with the countries of South Asia and posit a strong anti-China narrative which is important to maintain the global power balance. India by the sheer scale of its green energy ventures and the advantages of the early start it has can play the role of a mentor to help smaller nations scale up their projects and move in the right direction. By the way, this is the right time to take the right initiatives and latch on to the business and strategic opportunities this new sphere opens up. India must do its best to continue its good work in the domestic as well as the international domain, maintaining the right momentum and focus.