According to government statements, India is committed to obtaining roughly 50% of its installed capacity for electricity from non-fossil fuel-based energy sources by 2030.
India has now achieved 45.5% installed capacity from resources based on non-fossil fuels.
The government has planned to increase non-fossil fuel-based installed electricity generation capacity in order to lessen reliance on coal-based thermal power plants. The thermal capacity augmentation is estimated to cost Rs 6,67,200 crore by 2031-22.
The National Electricity Plan estimates that the capital cost of establishing new coal-based thermal capacity would be Rs 8.34 crore per MW, according to Minister of State for Power Shripad Naik.
The minister told the Rajya Sabha that “the thermal capacity addition is expected to entail an expenditure of minimum Rs 6,67,200 crore by 2031–2032.”
The Central energy Authority (CEA) has conducted generation planning studies in order to satisfy the projected energy demand by 2031-32.
The results show that, in comparison to the current installed capacity of 217.5 GW, the required new capacity based on coal and lignite would be 283 GW. By 2031-22, the government wants to add at least 80 GW more of coal-based capacity.
In order to accomplish this goal, the government has waived Inter-State Transmission System (ISTS) fees for inter-state sales of solar and wind electricity for projects that will be put into service by June 30, 2025, and allowed foreign direct investment (FDI) up to 100% via the automatic method.
Additionally, the Ministry of Power has released a policy regarding the co-firing of biomass in coal-based power plants to generate electricity. 5-7 percent of biomass, mostly agricultural residue, must be co-fired with coal, provided that the technical viability of the process is evaluated.
