India’s Renewable Energy Sector Experiences Historic Growth in 2024 and Is Ready for Challenges of 2025
Many success stories of India’s renewable energy sector have been witnessed so far in 2024. Additions, from January to November, stand at 24.72 GW, much higher than the 11.83 GW added in the same period last year. Growth includes huge additions in solar, wind, and other sources of renewable energy, thereby underlining the commitment of the country towards speeding up its transition towards cleaner energy.
India has already crossed 205 GW by November 2024 in terms of installed renewable energy capacity. India has also seen a series of strong investments in its renewable energy sector; investment for the year 2025 is likely to double up, which was estimated at more than USD 32 billion. It targets 50 GW of additional renewable energy addition per annum for 500 GW by 2030.
The Indian government has also put all its eggs in one basket to scale up the domestic production of solar PV panels and wind turbines as a part of decarbonizing its energy sector from fossil fuels reliance. The International Energy Agency does see a possibility for renewable capacity to increase tremendously in India very soon. India is going to surpass China as the country with the most annual additions of renewable capacity by 2030. The addition of renewable energy in 2030 is going to be increased from 15 GW in 2023 to 62 GW. New & Renewable Energy Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said, the year 2024 had been “remarkable” for renewable energy. He added that this year has also seen a record addition of 20.85 GW in solar power besides 3.22 GW in wind power, 0.50 GW in bio-power and 0.09 GW in small hydro power. Renewable energy now represents almost 87% of total new power generation capacity added, with 28.46 GW of new capacity installed overall.
In addition to the large-scale development of renewable energy infrastructure, India is also moving ahead with house solar energy plans. According to the plan, under the scheme, PM-Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, free electricity up to 300 units per month will be supplied to one crore families. The government so far received more than 1.5 crore registrations and over 6.85 lakh installations were done.
Well, yes, there would be quite a long list of future challenges for India to achieve its 2025 goals on renewable energy and green hydrogen.
Some of the key areas of attention are going to continue developing policies, which will mean policies are seen as cheaper to produce green hydrogen. This includes ensuring that the States and Union Territory enact their state and Union Territory policies on green hydrogen. Yes, there is a need for standards at production, storage, and transportation levels of hydrogen. Beyond that, India will also make additional demands on green hydrogen both domestically and in the international markets. India is very ambitious in the space of green hydrogen.
It targets 7.80 lakh MTPA of green hydrogen and its derivatives by 2025. It is also intended that the government will work upon a Green Hydrogen Certification Scheme, which shall be finalized by 2025. India will also plan for a Centre of Excellence dedicated towards focused research on green hydrogen and pilot projects starting in various fields like steel and transport. Of these, steel will be a big sector for India’s green hydrogen program.
The government had identified three pilot projects for hydrogen consumption in steel-making, estimated to have a cost of Rs 347 crore, back in 2024. The thinking is to include hydrogen into the manufacturing process of steel, which remains one of the most carbon-intensive processes in the world. Next year, there will be further pilot projects being given to speed up innovation in the application of green hydrogen. While the sector of renewable energy is booming, there are certain areas that remain to be worked upon. These include, above all, upgrading the grid to facilitate growth in the renewable energy field. India needs to upgrade the transmission infrastructure in such a manner that power produced from renewable-rich states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat can efficiently be distributed all over the nation.
Conclusion:Another challenge is the high production and infrastructure costs of this industry. According to experts, subsidy, R&D support, and scaling up the hydrogen storage and transportation infrastructure should be the crucial factors to cut the cost so that it could become commercially viable. India’s renewable energy sector will definitely need policy interventions to achieve the ambitious set targets. Some of the primary measures would include state-level implementation of Renewable Purchase Obligations, acceleration of project awarding, and the provision of fast-track clearances for renewable energy projects. For meeting the targets by 2025 and beyond, public-private partnerships, innovation, and crystal-clear policy frameworks will be highly crucial.
India’s renewable energy sector is going to continue growing as the country works toward its 2030 and 2070 climate goals. What was seen during 2024 in investments and policy initiatives will be there well ahead for further challenges. It seems like India is at a right track to become one of the worlds’ clean energy superpower with increased emphasis on green hydrogen, solar, and wind power.
Source: PTI, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy