I have read about China installing solar panels for new electricity needs. However, now I am reading about India. Although they were installing many coal power plants in the past, now, they are...
I have read about China installing solar panels for new electricity needs. However, now I am reading about India. Although they were installing many coal power plants in the past, now, they are installing renewable power plants.
Installed solar capacity in India has been growing by 40 percent a year. In March, it passed 150 gigawatts, and by 2030 is set to double again.
Ever since the Glasgow conference, India has been introducing solar energy at an accelerating rate. Last year, for the first time, more than half its installed generating capacity was from non-fossil fuel sources.
As booming India’s electricity demand continues to grow by more than 6 percent each year, the solar trend is set to continue. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), about half the growth anticipated between now and 2030 will be met by solar power, and another 25 percent from other low-carbon sources, mostly wind, hydroelectric, and nuclear.
However, there are still many coal power plants in India. This is because they were built when solar panel was expensive. However, now that solar panel is cheap, India will stop building new coal.
India still has a long way to go to break its dependence on fossil fuels. Coal still delivers most of the country’s baseload and fuels about 70 percent of total power generation. It helps make India the world’s third largest carbon dioxide emitter, after China and the U.S, and is a major cause of the country’s urban smogs, which are the worst in the world. But the target to double coal mining output has been quietly forgotten, and construction of coal-fired power stations is much reduced. Coal’s share in the energy mix is set to fall below 50 percent by 2035, according to the IEA.
It seems the problem is that India must build electricity power lines to transmit the solar panel electricity into the factories, and they are investing funds to do that. However, it seems that they are also starting to be using battery to store electricity.
Starting later this year, a 1.4-gigawatt project is expected to pump water from one of India’s largest hydroelectric reservoirs, the Gandhi Sagar on the Chambal River in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Another, with a capacity of 3 gigawatts, is set for completion near Mumbai in 2030. In January, the country’s Central Electricity Authority identified 120 potential pumped-storage sites with a combined capacity of 180 gigawatts.
Another solution to the storage problem is lithium-ion batteries. World battery prices are falling dramatically — down 58 percent since 2023, says Ember’s global electricity analyst Kostantsa Rangelova, “making round-the-clock solar electricity increasingly viable.”
I have read that the cost of battery is lowering very rapidly. I believe that this will continue due to innovation in technology. Therefore, I believe that the reality may have faster installation of solar panels and battery than the predictions say.
I have read about China installing solar panels for new electricity needs. However, now I am reading about India. Although they were installing many coal power plants in the past, now, they are installing renewable power plants.
However, there are still many coal power plants in India. This is because they were built when solar panel was expensive. However, now that solar panel is cheap, India will stop building new coal.
It seems the problem is that India must build electricity power lines to transmit the solar panel electricity into the factories, and they are investing funds to do that. However, it seems that they are also starting to be using battery to store electricity.
I have read that the cost of battery is lowering very rapidly. I believe that this will continue due to innovation in technology. Therefore, I believe that the reality may have faster installation of solar panels and battery than the predictions say.