Driving India’s energy security and decarbonisation this decade
- As India aims to become the fastest-growing economy, decarbonizing its power sector becomes imperative.
- Despite being vulnerable to climate change impacts, India has taken significant climate actions, yet coal remains vital for providing base power load support.
- Coal is especially indispensable during non-solar hours and the post-monsoon season catering to over 80% of the peak demand in the evening and night.
Four Step Strategy
- To balance economic development, energy security, and decarbonization, a four-step strategy is proposed.
- Efficient Thermal Plant Management
- Improved management of thermal plant outages during peak demand periods is essential.
- Forecasting demand, planning maintenance, and ensuring plant availability during peak days can mitigate the need for new coal assets in the medium term.
- Regulations incentivizing plant availability during peaks and allowing idle plants to participate in the market are crucial.
- Flexible Operation of Existing Coal Fleet
- Enhancing the flexibility of the existing coal fleet is necessary to integrate more renewable energy into the grid seamlessly.
- Retrofitting existing coal plants to reduce minimum power load and improving ramp rate capabilities can align them with renewable energy variations.
- The Central Electricity Authority of India has already proposed retrofitting ~92% of the current coal and lignite-based capacity to enable it.
- Regulatory frameworks compensating power plant owners for retrofitting costs and flexible operations should be implemented nationwide.
- Incentivizing Payment for Storage Services
- Energy storage systems (ESS) are vital for supporting the power grid during non-renewable hours.
- Beyond supplying energy units, compensating entities deploying batteries for their value in grid operation is essential.
- Numerous studies indicate that BESS will increase RE integration into the grid and reduce operational stress on the thermal fleet.
- Existing mechanisms can direct additional revenues toward battery storage systems by offering essential grid support services.
- These services include inertia, black start, voltage stabilisation, and reactive power supply.
- Indigenizing Supply Chains for Renewable Energy Technologies
- Boosting domestic value and job creation in clean energy, particularly battery storage and renewable energy (RE) technologies, is crucial.
- Indigenization efforts, supported by initiatives like the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, can contribute to exports, job creation, and economic growth.
- Addressing critical raw material availability and promoting R&D in advanced technologies for battery manufacturing are immediate priorities.
Conclusion
- While global attention focuses solely on decarbonization, India's energy security, driven by rapidly growing power demand, remains a top priority.
- Policymakers must transparently assess the opportunity costs of conventional power sources.
- They should prioritise low-cost and affordable electricity, and lay the groundwork for more aggressive decarbonization commitments in the future.