Power Minister addresses energy industry under US India Strategic Partnership Forum – EQ Mag Pro
The Union Minister of Power, New & Renewable Energy, Sh. R. K. Singh addressed the US India Strategic Partnership Forum and industry leaders, in a Virtual Energy Industry Roundtable, today here. Shri Singh apprised about the Government of India’s priorities for the energy sector as the ministry begins to work on Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of energy independence by 2047.
The Minister said that India and USA have similar goals and share the same zeal towards climate change issues. We want to have a partnership which can be an inspiration to the rest of the world on the fight towards mitigating climate change. The industry plays a critical role in this partnership.
Shri Singh observed that India has set an ambitious target of having 175 GW capacity of RE by 2022 and 450 GW RE capacity by 2030. India has reached 100 GW in Installed Solar and Wind Capacity and after adding Hydro capacity also, the total installed renewable capacity is 146 MW. Further, 63 GW of renewable capacity is under construction which makes India one of the fastest growing economies in terms of renewable capacity addition.
Talking about India’s vision on using Hydrogen as an energy use, India would be conducting competitive bids for green hydrogen in next 3-4 months to pave the road for viable usage of hydrogen as a fuel.
About the efforts of Indian Government in encouraging storage capacity Shri Singh said that to further support the integration of large renewable capacity, we have been working continuously to increase our Pumped Hydro Storage Capacity. In the near future, India will have bids to invite global and domestic manufacturers for developing battery storage in India on the cards. India will soon have bids for 4000 MWhr BESS bids and later will take up 12 GWhr project in Ladakh.
He further added that the world needs to come up with more number of eletrolyzers, battery storage facilities, etc to bring economies of scale in these technologies and make these commercially viable. Only then, we will be able to truly shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
His address was followed by discussion with Industry Participants, moderated by Mr. Nolty Theriot, Senior Vice President – USISPF. The interaction is significant in light of the recently concluded US-India Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP) dialogue and the achievement of the GW renewable energy capacity addition milestone.
Additionally, the interaction provided platform for the private sector to give inputs on how energy cooperation between the US and India can support sustainable development, technology development & infrastructure development and facilitate investments to create opportunities for businesses and people, while being mindful of the need to create low carbon pathways.
