India needs a nimbler system facilitated by technical solutions
A new report by RMI India and RMI recommends ways to mainstream climate resilience into the Indian electricity sector as extreme weather events are increasing, making it compelling to have iterative and adaptive power sector planning.
Likewise, banks will need to familiarise themselves with clean energy, climate risks and resilience paradigms and innovate with financial instruments to prevent the risk of stranded assets.
In terms of technology, India will need a nimbler system facilitated by technical solutions such as flexibility, islanding capability and backup energy. It will also mean weatherising and grid hardening, especially at the distribution end, where poor design and construction standards continue to plague us. Need for more granular climate data to facilitate planning will become important.
The report, ‘Powering Through: A Climate Resilient Future – Recommendations for the Indian Power Sector’, highlights the importance of reliable and secure power systems in the country.
Climate change-induced extreme weather events are increasing and energy systems are feeling the impact. According to the Global Climate Risk Index, India is the seventh most climate-affected country in the world. It is increasingly facing rising heat stress, which is weakening the Himalayan glacial mass, affecting monsoon patterns and contributing to higher incidence of droughts, storms and floods.
To enhance the country’s ability to respond to such extreme weather events, the report seeks to:
• Act as a primer on the concept and need for climate resilience in the power sector.
• Outline key considerations in policy, operations, technology, and finance for a resilient power sector.
• Highlight barriers in mainstreaming climate resilience into India’s power sector planning.
• Suggest potential actions by stakeholder categories to accelerate power sector resilience.
Stressing on the need for a power-resilient future, RMI Managing Director Clay Stranger said on 20 July 2021, “The risks to the grid will no longer be confined to the power sector alone. It is bound to have a cascading effect, ultimately impacting multiple end-use sectors, including critical services, such as healthcare and food storage. It will also impact new clean technology solutions in sectors, such as transportation, which have traditionally had a supply chain shielded from risks to the power grid.”
Institutions and stakeholders need to start thinking about integrating climate resilience that goes beyond disaster risk response into systems such as the power sector.
• At the policy level, this will need iterative and adaptive power sector planning, collaborative work across ministries, departments and sectors, and improved market design.
• At the operations level, this will need upgrading regulations, incorporating situational learnings by adopting a bottom-up approach.
“Resilience interventions may cost more but apart from safeguarding the power infrastructure against climate risks, they are bound to help avert routine repair, and maintenance costs, along with offering benefits such as system flexibility and enhanced quality of electricity supply,” explained Akshima Ghate, Principal, RMI India.
“As such, work at the policy and planning level needs to be bolstered by financial institutions whose renewed understanding of clean energy and climate risks can facilitate experimentation and implementation of the right technology and management practices on both supply and demand sides,” Ghate said.
Stakeholders in the Indian power sector need to act on an accelerated timeline due to the socio-economic imperatives, ongoing energy transition and the potential avoided costs of inaction.
RMI India is an independent think-and-do-tank that works with diverse stakeholders. It takes inspiration from and collaborates with RMI, a 40-year-old non-governmental organisation. RMI India’s mission is to accelerate India’s transition to a clean, prosperous and inclusive energy future.
Founded in 1982, RMI transforms global energy systems through market-driven solutions to align with a 1.5°C future and secure a clean, prosperous and zero-carbon future for all. RMI has offices in Basalt and Boulder, Colorado; New York City; Oakland, California; Washington, D.C.; and Beijing. #investment #projects #technology #environment #climate #power #energy #projects /fiinews.com
