STORAGE PANGS
Three ministers in the Narendra Modi government — surface transport minister Nitin Gadkari, petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and power minister Piyush Goyal – are aiming for major achievements in renewable energy. Gadkari wants to run 150,000 state corporation buses on lithium ion batteries. Goyal sees all cars after 2030 running on electricity. If these two can see their projects through, Pradhan can realise the target of cutting hydrocarbon imports by more than 10 per cent by 2022 itself.
It will depend on how quickly and efficiently solutions are found to store solar power. Across the world, from Elon Musk’s Tesla to Mercedes Benz and India’s own Indian Space Research Organization are looking to make more efficient Lithium ion batteries. Musk’s dream Gigafactory is expected to produce more lithium-ion batteries annually than were produced worldwide in 2013. Tesla expects to cut battery prices by 30 per cent.
Batteries are not just the solution for cheaper electric vehicles, but could mean renewable can become more reliable and replace conventional coaland diesel based generation to service the base load in the longer term. Not only is lithium ion smaller than nickel-cadmium or nickel-metalhydroxide batteries, it also has higher energy density and can also be endlessly recycled. The renewable energy ministry is funding research at IITs and engineering colleges for solutions to storage, but hasn’t met with much success. India is pinning hopes on limited successes made at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre of ISRO, for use in two- and threewheelers. In April this year, Automotive Research Association of India successfully tested their batteries. Still, it is not of the scale to run buses, trucks or even big cars. The plan is to transfer this technology to companies for commercial production. Gadkari is expecting these batteries will be available for 5-6 lakh, instead of the current 55 lakh. But it is still far from reality.
The real hope comes from the US. There are series of experiments happening there. Till success is achieved, it’s a case of wait and watch.