Sustainable Energy in India: Current Position and Future Prospects

Abstract
According to the World Coal Association, coal will last only up to 150 years at the current
pattern of consumption and other exhaustible sources such as oil and gas reserves might last
about 50 and 52 years respectively.
The cynosure of this paper is analysing the status, feasibility, scope and consequences of
building a reliable base of an alternate source of energy, which at present supplements the
existing conventional sources and in future will grow to such an extent that the nation could
rely on the new and renewable sources of energy to accomplish its energy requirements. It
further tries to study the steps taken by the government authorities in this regard by the
formation of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and also the role of private
sector in the growth of renewable energy.

Keywords

Sustainable energy; Renewable energy; Green energy corridors; Solar Photovoltaic; National
Bio-diesel Mission; International Solar Alliance (ISA)

1. Introduction
The concern for depleting sources of energy matters considering the adverse impact on the
economy that may be caused due to stagnation of production of energy at the current rate of
production if adequate infrastructure is not developed for harnessing the energy through
renewable and unconventional sources which will be the only means on energy generation
after the exhaustion of resources. Energy is amongst the utmost critical components of
infrastructure significant for the economic advancement, welfare and development of nations.
The existence and development of adequate infrastructure for renewable energy is essential
for sustained growth of the Indian economy.
In May 2018, India ranked 4th in the Asia Pacific region out of 25 nations on an index that
measures their overall power. India’s energy sector is highly diversified in terms of sources
ranging from conventional exhaustible sources such as coal, lignite, natural gas, oil, hydro
and nuclear power to viable non-conventional sources such as wind, solar, and agricultural
and domestic waste.
Sustainability is a crucial essence of development which should imperatively be considered
along with other economic factors in the process of decision making for any aspect of growth
and development of the nation. Resources are not something we inherited from our ancestors
rather it is something we borrowed from our future generations, thereby an efficient and
judicious allocation of resources becomes very important in order to minimize the wastage
and maximise the value created for the society. When we talk about sustainability, the well
being of the society, environment and every aspect of our surroundings is taken into
consideration and policies are framed in such a manner that do least harm to the components
of the society. In other words sustainable development is termed as meeting the current
energy requirements in such a judicious manner that results in minimum depletion of natural
resources, herein giving time to the nature for the replenishment of such resources.
2. Objectives
This paper aims at thorough analysis of growth and development of infrastructure for
harnessing the renewable energy in India in consideration with the existing scenario, which
will result in structural transformation from conventional sources to sustainable sources of
energy. The primary objective of this report is to find whether India as a nation has the
potential of providing sustainable sources of energy to different sectors and the time duration
within which the former would happen. India being a developing nation and the fastest
growing economy has high energy demand and at the same time focus on environmental
issues which force the nation to move towards cleaner energy sources to sustain a better and
brighter future. As a developing nation the primary target is to provide sustainable energy
sources at prices which are affordable to general public at large as well as various
manufacturing and developing sectors. The paper tends to provide the implications and
prospects of using renewable sources of energy and curbing down the consumption of carbon
emitting resources in order to preserve them for the future generations and giving them
sufficient time to relinquish naturally before exhaustion.

3. Methodology
The research is based on the understanding of diversified data available at the world bank
database, Ministry of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable energy and correlating them
and chronologically analysing the past, current and future scenario in the sector.
Further it uses Statistics report 2018 from the ministry, Renewables 2018 report from The
Energy and Resources Institute, explanations of the team on first Indian expedition research
to Antarctica about the solution of energy problem and thorough study of articles of mint,
business standard and International Energy Agency.

4. Overview of the renewable energy

Renewable energy at present in all its forms such as hydro, solar, urban waste, wind industrial
waste, bio-mass and other renewable sources account for about 27% of total installed
capacity of power generation in India. At present the target of the government of India is of
175,000 MW of energy by the end of 2022 with 69,022 MW of installed capacity as at March
2018. According to the world data information Energy consumption in India is about
1,048.00 billion kWh of energy per year with per capita average of 783 kWh [2014].The
following table 1.1 exhibits the grid and off-grid installed capacity of the renewable energy.

Off- Grid
Grid Installed
Target by capacity
Source capacity (MW)
2022 (MW) (MW) as on
as on 31/3/2018
31/3/2018
Wind power 34,046 60,000 -------------
Solar power 21,651 100,000 539.13
Bio-mass power ( bio-mass, 8,701 163.37
gasification and bagasse cogeneration) 10,000
Waste to power 138 175.45
Small hydropower 4,486 5,000 --------
Total 69,022 175,000 877.95
Table 1.1 Installed Capacity of renewable energy and Targeted Capacity by 2022
Green energy corridors have been expanded to augment the transmission system with about
Rs.10,141 crore being invested on the expansion and up to 9,400 ckm (Circuit Kilo metre)
area has been completed with a target of 19,000 MVA of electricity to be generated by 2020.
The corridor is responsible for synchronising the electricity produced from the renewable
sources of energy such as wind, solar, hydro. With the conventional sources such as thermal,
nuclear, in the existing power stations via grid
and enhancing the supply of electricity
through this concentration in green energy
corridors.
There has been a pragmatic growth in the
total installed capacity of renewable energy at
a rate of 33.59% ranging from 42,849.38MW
as at 31.03.2016 to 57,244.23 MW as at
31.03.2017. The adjacent chart 1 shows the Chart 1
proportionate share of different types of
sources that constitutes renewable energy in India. It is worth noting that the Hydro energy
has not been included in this share because it is still kept with the Ministry of Power as an
exhaustible resource and often not considered in the share of renewable energy but later in
the share of sustainable energy it is a prominent source.

4.1 Prospects of Solar Energy

India ranks 6th in the world in terms of installed solar
capacity of 22,000 MW (2017-18), which is over 8
times the capacity of 2,630MW in 2013-14 (fig 1.1).
India has seen an extraordinary growth especially in
this sector with 41 solar parks in 21 states while some
are under construction such as a largest solar park of
2000MW in Pavagada, Karnataka. The target of
20,000 MW has been increased to 40,000 MW and
continuous efforts are being directed towards
achievement of such a target by initiating policies
like International Solar Alliance, which is the first
treaty based international inter-governmental
organization headquartered in Gurugram founded on Figure 1.1
7th December 2017. This treaty specifically aims at
bringing the world together for harnessing solar energy for universal access of energy at
affordable rates. Its worth mentioning that the government claims that the per unit cost of
solar energy has come down to Rs.2.44 in 2018 from Rs.6.17 in 2014 owing to more
transparency in the bidding process of the solar energy production. Quality control order for
solar photo voltaic systems/components under Bureau of Indian Standards notified, further
national lab policy on testing, standardization and certification notified, 18000 ‘Surya Mitras’
trained for employment via solar energy infrastructure. The current infrastructure of solar
power generation comprises of solar parks like Kurnool Solar Park, Andhra Pradesh- world’s
largest solar park with 1000 MW capacity, spread over a total area of 5,932.32 acres in
Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, Kamuthi Solar Power Project, Tamil Nadu with a
capacity of 648 MW commissioned by Adani Power, Bhadla Solar Park, Rajasthan. Charanka
Solar Park, Gujarat, Sakri Solar Plant, Maharashtra with capacity of 125 MW Welspun Solar
Madhya Pradesh project of 151 MW and many other small solar power plant. A recent
establishment of a solar power plant in Mirzapur with the capacity of 75 MW dedicated to
meet the electricity requirements of the people of Uttar Pradesh can be seen as a step forward
in achieving the vision of sustainable development and reliance on renewable sources of
energy.

4.2 Growth of Wind Energy

The existing wind power installed capacity is about 34,000 MW [2017-18] as against 21,000
MW [2013-14], which substantially exhibits the inclination toward recognizing a huge
untapped potential in Wind energy. The government further claims to have brought down thr
per unit cost of wind energy from Rs.4.20 in 2014 to Rs.2.43 in 2018 seeing a dramatic shift
in the governance and energy allocation structure of the
country. India has successfully constructed a first of its
kind - LiDAR-based offshore wind unit at the Gulf of
Khambhat in Gujarat. LiDAR - The Light Detection and
Ranging is similar to the way Sonar is used under water
to detect the objects underwater through emitting
infrared waves, likewise the former on the ground
measures the wind speed and detects the direction of the
wind by emitting laser beam out in the atmosphere
which when scattered back in the equipment is used to
measure the dispersal of dust particles and other aspects,
this is how a it works. The farm is situated about 23 km Figure 1.2
from the Gujarat coast. Preliminary evaluations have
forecasted promising offshore potential in the southern edge and western coastal region of
India, after which such eight zones were identified along the Tamil Nadu and Gujarat costal
areas. The existing capacity of other countries such as United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany,
Belgium, and China are 4,494 MW, 1,271 MW, 1,049 MW, 712 MW and 670 MW
respectively, which shows that India is still better off in terms of installed wind offshore
capacity.

4.3 Prospects of Hydro, Tidal and Ocean energy

As per the reports of ministry of power, India possess 45,487 MW of installed Hydro energy
as at 31st October 2018 which is 13.1% of overall power generation capacity including all
sources of energy. India ranks 6th Hydro electricity generation globally after China, Canada,
Brazil, USA and Russia. Hydro power in India which has capacity of generating less than
25MW are classified as small hydro power and are determined as renewable source of
energy. Small Hydro Power (SHP) is the oldest and the least expensive way of producing
energy. Within a span of 4 years from 2014 to 2018, tremendous expansion of hydro energy
has occurred and is on-going with small hydro projects of 682 MW added amongst which
600 water mills for mechanical applications were added and 132 projects are under
construction. The ministry’s aim is that the Small Hydro Power (SHP) installed capacity
should be up to 7000MW by the end of 12th Five Year Plan. Small hydro projects serve equal
importance as any other means of power generation, the reason being that they are set up in
remote areas nearby the water current sources and lead to self reliance of nearby settlements
of local in terms of electricity generation. Thereby despite being a very small proportion
essential in forming the backbone of accessibility of power to remote areas of the country.
Some prominent hydro plants of India are Tehri Dam (THDCL, Uttarakhand), Koyna
Hydroelectric Project (Maharashtra State Power Generation Co Ltd.), Srisailam (APGENCO
Andhra Pradesh), Nathpa Jhakri (Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam H.P), Sardar Sarovar Dam (SSNN
Ltd Gujarat), Bhakra Nangal Dam (Gobind Sagar Bhakra Beas Management Board Himachal
Pradesh).

4.4 Bio-mass and other renewable sources of energy

Especially in the remote villages and semi-urban establishments, bio-mass can serve as a
crucial source of energy requirements of the locals. On an average, globally the projects
related to energy generation from bio-mass receive an investment of about $9,251 million all
around the world leading to production of 5,000 million units of electricity. The present
division of ministry which is dedicated to the new and renewable energy has set a national
target to achieve 10GW of installed bio-mass for power generation by the end of 2022.
India’s potential for bio mass energy is estimated at about 18GW of energy amongst which
over 5GW of capacity of bio-mass powered plants are installed in current scenario. About
83% of them are Grid connected while the remaining 17% are off-grid plants. The off-grid
power stations are further classified into – cogeneration plants that don’t work on bio-gases,
bio-mass gasifiers designed for application in rural areas and thirdly those bio-mass gasifier
plants that are used in thermal industry. The earlier estimate of bio-gas in India was about
20,757 lakh cubic meters [2014-15], which is
proportionately equivalent to 6.6 crore domestic LPG
cylinders, meanwhile region wise Maharashtra and
Andhra Pradesh topped in the production of bio-gas
with 3,578 and 2,165 lakh cubic meters respectively.
Another mission initiated by the government known as
National Bio-diesel Mission (NBM) that has
discovered ‘Jatropha Curcas’ fig 1.5 as the best suited
tree-borne oilseed for the production of bio-diesel fig
1.6, on account of which the planning commission in
its 11th five-year plan formulated an ambitious target Figure 1.5 Jatropha Curcas
that covered 11.2 to 13.4 million hectares of land for
‘Jatropha curcas’ cultivation for bio-diesel.

Figure 1.6
The government of India had approved the National Policy on this aspect a way back during
December 2009. It promoted the transition towards renewable sources as alternate fuels for
supplement the transportation fuels such as petrol and diesel, also devised a target aiming at
20% blending of bio-fuel – bio-diesel and bio-ethanol by 2017. The sector has evolved over
time and devised innovative techniques of producing energy from sewage gas which is
excreted as a production of anaerobic decaying of wastes and other effluents, also the wastes
emitted from distilleries are being converted into bio-gas for running gas turbines used in the
generation of electricity. Some of the companies that are engaged in this sector are - A2Z
Group of companies, Hanjer Biotech Energies, Ramky Enviro Engineers Ltd, Hitachi Zosen
India Pvt Limited, Clarke Energy and ORS Group.
5. Progress report towards achievement of sustainable energy goals
The progress in the direction of achieving the targets of utilizing maximum renewable energy
can be measured in the report depicted by table 1.2 of the government department which
takes into consideration all the sectors of renewable energy.
Ministry of New and Renewable energy
Programme/scheme wise physical progress in 2018-19 & cumulative up to July, 2018
Sector Cumulative
FY-2018-19
Achievements
Target Achievement (as on 31.07.2018)
(April-July 2018)
I. Grid-Interactive power (Capacities in MW)
Wind power 4,000.00 257.12 34,402.12
Solar power – 10,000.00 1,304.57 21,892.42
ground mounted
Solar power – roof 1,000.00 159.02 1,222.65
top
Small Hydro Power 250.00 7.40 4,493.20
Bio-mass (Bagasse, 250.00 0.00 8,700.80
Cogeneration)
Bio-mass (Bagasse, 100.00 14.00 676.81
Cogeneration) –
Captive power
Waste to power 2.00 0.00 138.30
Total 15,602.00 1,742.11 71,526.30
I. Off-Grid/ Captive power (Capacities in MW equivalents)
Waste to energy 18.00 0.00 172.15
Bio-mass Gasifiers 1.00 0.00 163.37
SPV Systems 200.00 90.15 761.55
Total 219.00 90.15 1097.07
Table 2.2 Quarterly and cumulative report of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
As per the region wise installed capacity in India, Tamil Nadu with the highest capacity of
grid connected renewable energy (10562.39 MW) after which stands Maharashtra with
7647.60 MW of installed grid connected capacity and then Karnataka (7457.97 MW mainly
for wind power). A total of 49.65 lakh bio-gas plants had been installed up to 31st March
2017, out of which 8.99 lakh are installed in Maharashtra, thereafter 5.49 lakh in Andhra
Pradesh, 4.9 lakh in Karnataka, 4.41 lakh in Uttar Pradesh and 4.33 lakh in Gujarat.

6. Conclusions
The share of new and renewable energy excluding hydro energy is only 20.8% of overall
power generated in the economy [2018] which is an indicator of delay in reliance on the
renewable energy for the overall functioning of the economy. Particularly talking about
sustainability, which is more focussed towards using cleaner and less carbon emitting
resources of energy, we include hydro energy share of 13.1% in the existing renewable share
and arrive at 33.9% share of energy which is being produced by cleaner sources. Now this
represents a substantial share of how the increasing commitment towards sustainability is
evidenced in a transitional shift from conventional fossil fuel based sources of energy such as
coal, oil, petroleum, natural gas and nuclear energy are left with only 66.1% and this share is
further expected to decrease. Henceforth it can be concluded that a substantial shift from
conventional to new and renewable sources of energy can take place by the year 2030, but
not very soon as predicted by the government targets of 2022 and present achievements.
7. Suggestions
India has a lot of potential for renewable energy. India has a geographical advantage which
provides year long sunlight which contributes as a major chunk in providing energy to
different sectors. India is blessed with 500Twh of solar segregation every year and if a tenth
of this potential was utilized, it could mark the end of India’s power problems by using the
country’s deserts and farmland to construct solar plants. Currently the electricity supply in
India is centralized generation and grid based distribution which is going to dominate during
the renewable energy supply through the process of development of large solar parks and big
DISCOMS. The problem with this structure is the most of the population does not get the
supply of electricity and plenty of resources are being wasted. Instead according to us the
idea should be the creation of decentralized and distributed one. The fact that sunlight is
available everywhere and our population is also scattered one so the idea of generation of
electricity through a decentralized structure would work well. In this the households
businesses and mini grids would become mini electricity generators. The role of these
generators would be to supply the excess energy to the grid, and the grid which earlier used
as the main supply of energy will now be more inclined towards being a platform where
surplus electricity between millions of generators and consumers would be traded and
transported. In this structure there is no need of big DISCOMS rather there will be mini
DISCOMS which will help meet the electricity demand for small communities and villages.
These DISCOMS would do the trading of electricity by supplying electricity when in excess
and buying from other mini DISCOMS when in deficit. The idea is that millions of
households would produce and consume electricity.
Passionate environment entrepreneurs and
dedicated researchers such as Kunal Munshi who
was amongst a team of 1st Indian Scientific
Expedition to winter at Antarctica particularly
‘last man hill’ and constructed the highly
advanced 3rd Indian research station -"Bharati" Fig. 1.3
there in 2012. In their research and findings the team claims to have found ultimate solutions
to the ever increasing demand for energy, one such claim is that as shown in the fig 1.3 that
the area in a small dark square in between the 32
world map, if installed with solar power generation
units is sufficient to power the whole world.
Alongside the team claims that the shores locates
via dark line amongst the boundaries of the
countries as shown in the fig 1.4 are sufficient to Fig. 1.4
power the whole world if installed with wind farms for power generation. 10 million man
days employment has been created per annum through strategic planning of sustainable
development via inculcating renewable energy in to the main stream generating employment
opportunities at multiple levels such as ‘surya mitras’, operators, supervisors, helpers,
customer care services and others as mentioned.
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