Report on Energy Transitions to achieve India’s Net Zero targets sanctioned by Principal Scientific Adviser launched
A meeting was held for the
launch of the report titled “Synchronizing energy transitions towards possible
Net-Zero for India: Affordable and clean energy for All” prepared by IIM
Ahmedabad as part of a study project which was sanctioned in November 2021 by
the Office of the Principal Scientific
Advisor to the Government of India with part-funding (one-third)
from Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). The launch was held in
Committee Room ‘A’, Vigyan Bhawan Annexe, New Delhi on 3rd April, 2024.
The report was launched by
Prof Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of
India in presence of dignitaries Dr VK Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog; Dr AK
Mohanty, Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and Chairman, Atomic
Energy Commission (AEC); PA Suresh Babu, Distinguished Scientist and Director
(HR), NPCIL who joined on behalf of CMD, NPCIL; Dr Parvinder Maini, Scientific
Secretary, Office of PSA. Dr Anil Kakodkar, Chancellor, Homi Bhabha National
Institute (HBNI) and former Chairman, AEC was the Guest of Honour and he joined
the meeting online.
[Launch of the report on energy transitions
required to achieve India’s net-zero targets by Dr AK Mohanty, Secretary, DAE
and Chairman, AEC; Dr Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, Office of PSA;
Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, PSA to the Government of India; Dr VK Saraswat, Member,
NITI Aayog;Dr. R. B. Grover, Emeritus Professor, HBNI and Member, AEC; Prof.
Amit Garg, Public Systems Group, IIM Ahmedabad (Principal Investigator of the
project); Prof Tirthankar Nag, Professor and Dean (Research), Strategy,
Innovation and Entrepreneurship, International Management Institute, Kolkata (co-Investigator
of the Project) and PA Suresh Babu, Distinguished Scientist and Director
(HR), NPCIL]
A need was felt to undertake an analytical study on the
energy transition required towards a net-zero energy basket for India.
Accordingly, the study was sanctioned with the objective of conducting a
comprehensive study with rigorous methods for minimizing the cost of power at
consumer end and to work out an optimum mix for all sources of power, aiming
for net-zero emission.
The project team at
IIM Ahmedabad led by Prof Amit Garg, Public Systems
Group, has successfully completed
the study, under the guidance of an expert group constituted by the Office of
PSA, having experts from diverse sectors of power generation including coal,
nuclear, solar, wind, biofuels, etc. The expert committee was chaired by Dr RB
Grover, Emeritus Professor, HBNI and Member, AEC, and the other members were Dr
K Balaraman, former Director General, National Institute of Wind Energy; Dr
Bharat Bhargava, Former Director General, ONGC Energy Centre; SC Chetal, Former
Director, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research and Ex-Mission Director,
AUSC (Advanced Ultra Super Critical) Mission; Dr Rajeev Sukumaran, Senior
Principal Scientist and Head, Biofuels and Biorefineries Section,
National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology; BVS Sekhar,
Associate Director (CP&CC), NPCIL and Remya Haridasan, Scientist ‘D’,
Office of PSA.
After rigorous review by
the expert group, the report was independently reviewed by Tata Consulting
Engineers Limited which was a further value-addition and the final document was
launched at the meeting.
The report attempts to answer key questions
related to India’s energy trajectory such as:
How much energy does India need to achieve
high value of Human Development Index (HDI)?
What are pathways to achieve this; what are
the energy mix projections for this until 2070 (our declared net-zero target
year)?
What would be the cost of electricity to the
end user?
What would be the carbon emissions until 2070?
What would be the investments required for
energy transitions towards net-zero at 2070?
Estimation of other challenges and
opportunities (RE integration, requirement of critical minerals, Carbon Capture
Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), natural gas, ethanol, hydrogen) in energy
transitions towards achieving net-zero in 2070.
The main
conclusions of the report are given below:
·
There is
no silver bullet to achieve net-zero. The transition needs multiple pathways to
be adopted with co-existence of myriad technologies in our energy basket.
·
Coal is
projected to continue until the next two decades as the backbone of the Indian
energy system.
·
Net-zero
is not possible without substantial nuclear power and Renewable Energy (RE)
generation by 2070.
·
To
achieve net-zero energy systems by 2070, the electricity sector will need to
decarbonize well before that.
·
India’s
emissions would range between 0.56 btCO2 and 1.0 btCO2 in 2070. It is expected
that the remaining gap in emissions will be offset through sequestration in
forestry and tree cover as envisaged in our Nationally Determined Contributions
(NDCs).
·
Additionally,
the coal phase-down will require active policies on critical minerals and
carbon dioxide removal technologies.
·
Clean,
affordable electricity at low levelized cost of electricity (for consumers) can
be achieved in net-zero pathways, especially with a focus on nuclear power and
renewable power.
·
Widespread
electrification of end-use sectors i.e upto 47-52% electricity share in Total
Final Electricity Consumption (TFEC) compared to 18% at present.
·
Financial
requirements during 2020-2070 would be to the tune of Rs 150-200 lakh Crore
(about US$ 2-2.5 trillion, or US$ 40-50 billion/year). Considerable financial
flows must be international.
Prof Ajay Sood, PSA to
Government of India, in his opening remarks, stated that the report is a
comprehensive study, bringing together aspects from all sectors of power
generation in one place, providing a holistic view of the Indian energy sector
and throwing light on the potential pathways for a development-led transition
to net-zero. He added that these pathways also need large resources to be put
in place, hence, we need to synergise our efforts in various sectors. He stated
that this report is a good beginning and more such studies are needed.
Dr Anil Kakodkar,
former Chairman, AEC welcomed the study as the need of the hour which is an
energy transitions study done from India’s perspective. He also highlighted the
need for the development of technologies for low-cost hydrogen production.
Dr V.K Saraswat,
Member, NITI Aayog expressed his satisfaction in the findings of the study
which were in alignment with the simulation studies done by NITI Aayog. He
appreciated that the study is based on a development-led approach which is the
right approach to clean energy transition. He also acknowledged that such a
transition is also going to be expensive, as highlighted in the report. He
agreed with the premise that more RE penetration is needed with baseload energy
source as nuclear. He emphasised that without nuclear energy, the storage
requirements for RE will be very high to tackle the intermittency of its
supply. This will, in turn, enhance the dependence on critical minerals which
is not sustainable. He further added that for the nuclear sector, a transition
is needed from large reactors to Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), with
participation of industry. There is also a need to promote alternate nuclear
fuel options such as Thorium to reduce dependence on Uranium import.
Dr AK
Mohanty, Secretary, DAE and Chairman, AEC, gave an overview of the on-going
nuclear programme in the country and the plans for increasing the nuclear
installed capacity by 100GW by 2047. He also appreciated the report and stated
that is a vital input for further policy formulations.
Prof Ajay
Sood concluded by saying that he firmly believes that this report will be taken
seriously by all the relevant stakeholder ministries, departments and
industries and will be helpful in the planning stages of our endeavours in
clean energy.
Access
the report here:
https://psa.gov.in/CMS/web/sites/default/files/publication/ESN%20Report-2024_New-21032024.pdf