Indian companies deploy Industrial Revolution 4.0 technologies
Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has expressed keen interest to partner with global investors to further strengthen infrastructure, projecting approximately US$143 billion investment in the oil&gas sector.
“A testament to the same is the projected investment of ~US$143 billion in the Indian oil & gas sector, of which, ~US$56 billion is for E&P, ~US$66 billion for gas and ~US$20 billion for refining.
“We are keen to partner with global companies and investors for further strengthening of energy infrastructure in the country,” he said during an interaction with Stanford Alumni Group on “The Future of Energy in India” on 23 Dec 2020.
The Minister noted that Indian energy companies have developed a more strategic mindset by deploying the latest technologies encompassed under Industrial Revolution 4.0. This new age of Industrialization offers great opportunities for the energy sector to exponentially improve its efficiencies and productivity by deploying next-generation digital tools.
“With the deployment of next-generation technologies, process plants can take decisions which are faster, reliable and cost-effective.
“It is estimated that the use of these technologies while improving productivity and efficiencies could result in a cost reduction of primary energy by 20-25% by 2050.
He also announced that major Indian energy companies, like their Western counterparts, have announced NET ZERO policy.
Talking about boosting the rural economy, he highlighted the waste-to-wealth generation under the Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiatives. “We are setting up of 5,000 compressed biogas (CBG) plants by 2024 with a production target of 15 MMT and an investment of about US$20 billion.”
Speaking about energy security strategy, the Minister said, “We are filling all the Strategic Petroleum Reserves tanks this year with a total capacity of 5.33 MMT at Visakhapatnam, Mangalore and Padur.
“We have ((also) initiated the process of establishing another 6.5 MMT commercial-cum-strategic petroleum storage facilities at two locations at Chandikol and Padur under the Public-Private Partnership model.”
On India’s likelihood energy scenario on the demand side, Pradhan said that India’s energy demand would continue to grow. Increased demand would be curtailed by significant energy efficiency measures. Electricity consumption is expected to increase over the next 15 years.
The carbon intensity of power generation would fall, driven by renewable gaining share relative to coal.
Mobility would be redefined with increased penetration of EV; CNG & LNG-based vehicles in passenger and freight transport. The manifold increase in electricity demand would come from the residential sector due to rising income in rural and urban areas as well as rapid urbanization.
Renewable energy, led by wind and solar power, is expected to become the fastest-growing source of energy as the energy mix will become more diverse and cleaner, stressed the Minister.
India may need to switch to cleaner plants with supercritical technology while the focus on the importance of bio-energy hydrogen (blue and green) would increase.
Demand for crude oil, nevertheless, is likely to continue to increase over the next 15 years due to rising energy demand, he added. #OPEC #IEA #renewables #energy #investment #projects #technologies /fiinews.com
