Coal consumption likely to stay till 2030 despite push for clean energy

By 2030, as India seeks to add new plants for electricity generation and includes record clean energy installations to hit climate changes, coal will still remain to be India’s biggest source of power consumption.

India being the world’s third-largest emitter, is looking to fulfil surging electricity demand pushed by rising per-capita energy consumption and a post-pandemic situation at the same time, it initiating to decarbonise its power sector, as per the power ministry’s Central Electricity Authority.

“Availability of affordable and reliable electricity is a key factor in the sustainable growth of the country,” Ghanshyam Prasad, the authority’s chairperson, said in a report.

Future forecast

Coal will contribute to 54% of electricity generation by the year 2030 with 46 gigawatts of required additional capacity along with new renewables, said the authority in a report that was published on Thursday.

Currently, fossil fuels amount to almost three-quarters of generation and mines are attempting to dig out materials as quickly as possible to avoid shortages that caused blackouts recently.

Fittings of solar, wind, hydro, biomass and nuclear plants will be reaching more than 500 gigawatts by the year 2030, amounting to just triple of current levels and contributing 64% to the country’s generation capacity.

Last year coal minister Pralhad Joshi also stated that India will not be importing coal any further from the year 2024-25.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, a year back scaling up its environmental ambitions, had set higher targets for clean energy capacity and to limit the emissions intensity of the economy.

With this, India is also offering incentives to set up more solar and wind power, aiming to be a global hub for the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia.

On the other hand, releases from India’s power sector are expected to rise about 11% on current levels by the end of this decade, adding up to 1,114 million tons of carbon dioxide, according to the authority.