Power Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday coal operations in India will reduce further as power grids are now sourcing more from renewable energy sources.
“To support the renewable energy sector, we have lowered coal plant operations from 70 percent to 55 percent. The ministry has decided to drop down the technical minimum for coal-based thermal power plants to 55 percent allowing greater integration of renewable power into the grid,” he said at the release of a study, developed under the U.S.-India bilateral program ‘Greening the Grid’, in New Delhi.
Technical and economic viability of integrating 175 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy into India’s power grid by 2022, according to the study. India has set at ambitious target of adding 100 GW of solar energy and 60 GW of wind energy into the country’s energy mix by 2022.
We will have to be prepared for ramp down of coal to ensure grid stability. Best way to provide a spinning reserve to renewable energy is ultimately hydro. We had an engagement with hydro sector yesterday. Government can support transmission facility.
Piyush Goyal, Power Minister
Goyal had assured industry leaders from the hydro-power sector at an ASSOCHAM round table discussion on Wednesday that the government can look into the issue of payment security and interest subvention.
“We are also considering to recognise hydro as a renewable energy source and once we do that, we would have 20 percent of actual energy consumed becoming renewable in the next 5-6 years,” he said.
Source: bloombergquint
