India’s energy illusion: why ambitious targets mean nothing without a coherent plan

We need to rapidly substitute fossil fuels with other domestically available resources. We need to make the power sector largely based on renewable power, such as solar, wind, hydro, biomass, etc. We have ambitious targets for non-fossil power generation. However, we need to have a consistent technological road map. Our solar and wind power is not available round the clock, only when the sun shines or the wind blows. Thus, we need a balancing power, such as power storage in batteries or hydro power plants. Our solar power capacity has increased significantly, but the corresponding balancing capacity has not. Thus, there is no demand for all the solar power that is generated. The price of power in the afternoon in recent times on the power exchange has fallen to less than 30 paise per unit, but on the same day at night it reaches ₹8 to 10 per unit. Thus, investors are reluctant to expand solar capacity. If we have abundant, cheap electricity available, many uses of gas and petroleum products can be replaced by electricity.