India heads for leadership in Green Hydrogen and Green Ammonia
India has already achieved 38.5% power generation from non-fossil fuel of its COP-21 pledged 2030 target of 40%, and adding capacity under installation, it would be 48.5% way ahead of the deadline, Power Minister R K Singh said on 16 July 2021.
This shows that India had one of the fastest rates of growth of Renewable Energy capacity in the world and the country has emerged as world leader in the Energy Transition, Singh told a conference on “Aatmanirbhar Bharat – Self Reliance for Renewable Energy Manufacturing”. It was organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on 16 July 2021.
The Minister informed that India proposes to continue to be a world leader in the coming years as well and highlighted the national target of 450 GW of Renewable Energy capacity by 2030.
India has already touched 200 GW of demand even when the effects of COVID-19 was still there. The demand had crossed what it was during pre-COVID time and it is expected that electricity demand will continue to rise. “This gives us the space for adding more Renewable Energy capacity,” said Singh, also the Minister of New and Renewable Energy.
He also noted that some countries had been dumping solar cells and modules at very low prices and harming the Indian industry. “To prevent dumping, it was decided to impose customs duty on imported cells and modules so as to provide protection to the Indian industry from dumping.”
Singh referred to the mechanism of Approved List of Models and Manufacturers which will also protect the Indian industries.
The Minister assured that India will also emerge as a leader in Green Hydrogen and Green Ammonia. “India proposes to green industry sectors to replace Grey Hydrogen (drawn from imported natural gas) with Green Hydrogen. For this, the Government will come out with a Green Hydrogen Purchase Obligation for different sectors like petroleum and fertilizer.
“This will also provide huge demand for domestically manufactured solar and wind equipments as well as storage.”
Singh disclosed that the Government proposes to come out with Rules and Regulations providing for easier Open Access for those industries which want to become green i.e. which want to rely on green energy for their functioning.
“Industry will be able to either set up green energy manufacturing capacity itself or through a developer and draw power from it through Open Access.
“The surcharge on Open Access will also be rationalized so as to ensure that Open Access is not saddled with unfair levies,” Singh assured.
He also elaborated about achieving the target of One Nation-One Grid-One Frequency with the addition of Transmission Lines of 1.52 lakh cKm. Going beyond infrastructure creation and bridging supply side gaps, the Government has also focused on consumer empowerment.
The recently notified “Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020” is a step in this direction. “This major initiative will put consumer at the center-stage. This is an important step towards improving Ease of Living and Ease of Doing Business across the country,” said Singh.
A strong and efficient power distribution sector is the key to the performance and viability of the power sector and the State Power Sector entities play a pivotal role in power distribution in India. For this, the Government is supporting States for strengthening the distribution system necessary for providing 24×7 power supply to all households.
Singh also informed that the Government is supporting the power sector through liquidity infusion to enable the sector to maintain power supplies, in the challenging aftermath of pandemic.
A Reforms-based and Results-linked, Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme has recently been approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs with an aim to improve the operational efficiencies and financial sustainability of all State DISCOMs and Power Department in this regard. The Scheme envisages providing financial assistance to DISCOMs for strengthening and modernizing the supply infrastructure. States may access funds under the scheme for strengthening their distribution systems.
Where the Distribution Companies are in losses, the States will be able to draw funds under the scheme only if they institute measures to reduce these losses. Therefore, the funding is reforms linked. There has already been improvement in the performance of DISCOMs. This scheme will take the improvements further, the Minster shared. #infrastructure #renewables #energy #OPEC #projects /fiinews.com
