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India pushes coal miners, power producers to roll out renewable energy projects

30th June 2017

By: Ajoy K Das

Creamer Media Correspondent

     

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KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) – Overlooking apparent contradictions, India is pushing government-owned mining companies, including coal, thermal power producers and mineral processors to commit to more renewable energy projects.

“It is a little bit of a contradiction, but I have to keep the coal industry going while ensuring large scale outreach on renewables,” junior Minister with independent charge of power, coal, renewable energy and mines, Piyush Goyal, said in a statement.

“This will be a contribution towards a better planet and a greener country,” he added.

Taking their cue, several government-owned companies in minerals and metals and thermal power generation have begun announcing megaprojects for solar and wind power generation and making matching provisions in their capital outlay planning.

Coal India Limited (CIL), the world’s largest producer of coal, would add 1 GW of renewable energy generation capacity within the next year and target a total renewal generation capacity of 10 GW, although no timeframe has been set for achieving the target, a company official said.

Also on the same page, NTPC, the country’s largest power producer, operating 20 coal-based thermal power plants, with aggregate generation capacity of 38 755 MW, has “recast expansion plans to increase proportion of renewable in its generation portfolio, while keeping a target for total capacity expansion constant”, a company official said.

NTPC’s strategic corporate plan has set a generation target of 128 GW by 2030. In the shorter term, the power producer would add 10 GW of renewable power generation capacity over the next four years. Currently, it operates nine solar power plants with aggregate capacity of 360 MW.

NLC Limited, which produces an estimated 30-million tons a year of lignite and has pithead power plants of 3 240 MW, has announced plans to set up solar power plants with a capacity of 4 000 MW over the next five years as part of the government’s National Solar Mission.

The country’s largest integrated bauxite miner and aluminium smelter, National Aluminium Company, also announced last month that it would venture into renewable energy, starting with a 150 MW wind and solar power plant in the eastern Indian coastal province of Odisha.

As per Renewable Energy Ministry vision document, India has set a target of achieving 100 GW of grid connected solar power by 2030 with phased targets laid down for each subsequent target ranging between 15 000 MW in 2017/18 and going up to 17 500 MW by 2021/22.

However, according to two power sector analysts attached to nongovernment research organisations, apart from compulsions of climate change and India’s continued commitment to the Paris Accord, government companies’ push towards renewable energy also stemmed from drying up of international funding for ‘dirty fuel’ based energy projects.

Pointing out that funding of thermal power generation and coal mining projects from sources like the World Bank and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries has been severely curtailed, Indian energy companies say operating on fossil fuel will continue to face shrinking funding options and increasingly will rely purely on domestic financial institutions.

Edited by Mariaan Webb
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

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