New Delhi, May 31 (IANS). India could be the first country to use solar energy instead of coal for industrialization. The country’s solar power capacity is growing at an annual rate of about 40 percent and is set to exceed 150 GW by March 2026. This information was given in a report.
Climate and environment-focused American news portal Grist, citing a Yale E360 report, said India’s Kutch desert in Gujarat is rapidly turning into one of the world’s largest renewable energy hubs thanks to huge solar panels spread across the desert.
Khawra Solar Park, spread over about 280 square miles near the India-Pakistan border, could become the world’s largest solar power project by 2029.
Once completed, the project will have approximately 60 million solar panels and will generate 30 gigawatts of electricity – enough to power a country the size of Austria.
This huge project reflects India’s growing step towards solar energy. The country’s installed solar power capacity is growing by about 40 percent annually and crossed 150 GW in March.
India aims to double this capacity again by 2030 to meet the increasing demand for electricity while reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
According to Kingsmill Bond, energy strategist at Amber, a UK-based think tank, India is following a different path from China and Western countries, which have based large parts of their economies on fossil fuels.
“China built its economy on coal; India is building on solar energy,” Bond said. He further said that India’s model can inspire other emerging economies that are looking for rapid growth without drastically increasing carbon emissions.
India’s rapid solar energy expansion represents a dramatic change from the situation just a decade ago, when solar energy had a limited role in the country’s energy mix.
At the time, the government strongly supported coal production to support industrial growth, despite growing global concerns about climate change, the report said.
Soon after coming to power in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pledged to double coal production by 2020.
India resisted international pressure to phase out coal at climate summits, arguing that developing countries still need the fossil fuel to reduce poverty and expand their economies.
However, falling prices of solar panels and India’s naturally sunny climate gradually changed the country’s energy strategy.
There has been a rapid pace of installation of solar power plants since the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.
Last year, non-fossil fuel sources accounted for more than half of India’s total installed power generation capacity for the first time, the report said.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), about half of India’s additional electricity demand between now and 2030 is expected to be met by solar energy.
The report also said the remaining quarter is likely to be met by other low-carbon sources, including wind, hydropower and nuclear power.
–IANS
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