INDIA needs to install around 7,000 giga watts (GW) of renewable energycapacity to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070but deployment beyond 1,500 GW could face critical challenges, including climate risks, high land prices,land conflicts, and population density, according to a new study. The study by independent think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) is the first of its kind tomapIndia’s renewable energy and green hydrogen potential by analysing the entire country'sl and mass and applying real-world constraints. India has a renewable energy (RE)potentialofover 24,000 GW and around 7,000 GW of installed capacity is required to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. The fast-developing South Asian nation currently has an installed RE capacity of 150 GW, and the study says that the constraints are relatively manageable up to 1,500 GW. ArunabhaGhosh, theCEOof CEEW, said, “While our RE potentialis vast, theroad tonet zerois fraught with challenges.

 

From land conflicts and population density to the unpredictable butun deniable impact of climate change, every step forward will demand resilience and innovation. “The CEEW study, for the first time, goes into granular details of the county's landmass tomap out where we can build out renewable energy and green hydrogen projects while addressing the challenges of land, people, and compounding, non-linear climate risks,” Ghosh said.Beyond 750–1,500 GW,REwillneed tobedeployed in areascharacterised as earthquake-pronezone4 orin areas with higher seasonality, where generation is lower than one standard deviation from the median generation for three months, the study said. “For the 1,500–3,000 GW range, we need to access high population density areas with 400–750 peopleper square kilometre.Unlocking the 3,000 GW RE potential will also require exploring land resources in high-conflict zones,” it said. Beyond 3,000GW,thereis an increase in challenges associated with all constraints, from land price to population density and conflicts, the report revealed. At the extremity of more than5,000 GW, India will need to deploy RE in highly earthquake-prone zones. Additionally, climate risks are quite high in some areas as we reach higher capacity requirements, it said. The CEEW study finds that population density significantly limits the realisation of India's RE potential, with only 29 per cent of onshore wind potential and 27 per cent of solar potential located in areas witha population density lower than 250 people per kmsquare.Further, aconsiderable portion of India’s RE potential is in high-climate-risk and high-land-price areas -- only 18 per cent of on shore wind potential and 22 per cent of solar potential are located in areas with low climate risks and lowland prices when looked at in isolation. Landconflicts further restrict deployment, with only about 35 per cent of onshore wind potential and 41 per cent of solar potential located in areas free from historical land conflicts.