India embracing renewables
FROM ignorance, lead me to truth; From darkness, lead me to light; From death, lead me to immortality; Om peace, peace, peace.
The mantra (chant) is a mantra of peace taken from The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (1.3.28), one of the 108 upanishads, and is believed to have been composed around 700BC. The literal translation of The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is The Great Forest Book.
I was reminded of the mantra while meeting a South African friend a few days ago over lunch. She was almost distressed while describing the imbalance and disharmony in the world because of the inability of the Earth to nourish all human beings.
Virtually every one of us can relate to the stress on account of the imbalance, the stress which manifests above all things in the phenomenon of climate change.
Cape Town is at the wrong end of climate change, with prolonged drought for the past few years. I am told that this was preceded by an energy crisis a few years ago.
The crises are just a factor of time and place till the time the fundamentals of the existential processes undergo a transformation.
Scaling back reliance on fossil fuels by enhancing the sharing of renewable energy sources has been an important objective for India; ambitious targets have been made to achieve the same.
The largest renewable capacity expansion programme in the world is in India.
The country is on its way to achieving the 175 gigawatts target for installed renewable energy capacity (out of which, 100GW will be from solar power) by 2022.
By November last year, 62GW of renewable power had been installed.
India stands at fourth and sixth position globally in wind and solar power installed capacity.
Several schemes have been launched for development of solar parks and ultra-mega solar power projects, the development of solar PV power plants on canal banks/ canal tops, setting up of several gigawatts of grid-connected solar PV power projects and the development of a solar cities programme and solar zones.
The expansion of renewable energy has been helped by mechanisms to achieve funding and commercial viability of the projects; India has achieved low tariffs for solar (Indian rupees 2.44 (R0.44)/ unit) and wind (INR 2.64 (R0.47)/ unit) through transparent bidding and facilitation. The government aims to raise bonds worth INR 2360 crores (R 4.2 billion) for renewable energy during the financial year 2017-18 (April-March).
The efforts were rewarded in 2016-17, which marked the first year when net capacity addition of renewable energy was higher than conventional energy.
The guiding principles of the process to achieve the goal of Ujwal Bharat (Bright India) are categorised as Sulabh (accessible power), Sasti (affordable power), Swachh (clean power), Suniyojit (well-planned infrastructure), Sunishchit (assured power for all) and Surakshit (empowering each citizen with transparent governance and securing their future).
India has launched policies and institutional mechanisms to sustain the plan, like the National Action Plan on Climate Change, which includes eight national missions covering solar, energy efficiency, agriculture, water, sustainable habitat, forestry, Himalayan sustainable development, energy and climate change, ecosystem and knowledge.
India has established eight Global Technology Watch Groups in renewable energy technology, advance coal technology, enhanced energy efficiency, green forest, sustainable habitat, water, sustainable agriculture and manufacturing. The Zero Effect, Zero Defect policy is an initiative to enhance energy and resource efficiency in medium and small industries.
In February last year, India launched the world’s first interoperable Quick Response (QR) code-acceptance solution. It is a sticker pasted on the teller counter wall of the merchant and can be generated dynamically by the merchant, removing the need for print. By providing the option, India is taking the right step in the direction of a greener and sustainable future.
Another scheme seeks to install solar energy-based street lights in power-deficient areas. In an ambitious plan to replace all incandescent bulbs with energy efficient LED bulbs, around 280 million LED bulbs have been distributed, resulting in the saving of more than $2bn in the last three years, along with 4GW of electricity.
India undertook to lead the process through the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC), submitted to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change which had the self-imposed mandate to reduce the emissions intensity of the gross domestic product by 33% to 35% by 2030 from the 2005 level, create additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030 and achieve 40% cumulative electric power capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
Under the INDCs, India also undertook to anchor a global solar alliance, International Solar Alliance, an initiative launched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande on November 30, 2015 in Paris on the sidelines of COP 21 UN Climate Change Conference.
ISA’s main objective is to undertake joint efforts required to reduce the cost of finance and technology, mobilise more than $1 trillion in investments needed by 2030 for the massive deployment of solar energy and pave the way for future technologies adapted to the needs of 121 countries lying between the tropics. Sixty-one countries have signed the ISA Framework Agreement and 33 have signed and ratified it.
On March 11, Modi and President Emmanuel Macron co-hosted the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance in New Delhi, during which the participating states adopted the Delhi Solar Agenda. Modi emphasised better, affordable and accessible solar technology to all and favourable financing devices.
This reminds me of Solar Mamas in Africa, who have led the solar revolution over the decades quietly but steadfastly at grass-roots level, forming the first alliance of the people for this cause.
Shukla is Consul-General of India in Cape Town