India's Green Energy Transition

India is still struggling to come to grips with the devastating spin-offs of Covid-19, including the slump in economy. Like other sectors, the power sector too has taken a severe hit, with lowered electricity consumption due to semi-operation of industries. In fact, the dynamic trading price of electricity fell to a three-year low of 60p recently, an indicator of the drop in demand.

This article is first in the #Empower series of blogs by CSTEP, which aims to inform and interest the public in technical and policy issues that affect us on a day-to-day basis. In this and the next few articles, we will break down the journey of electricity from generation to consumption and elaborate on how every step of this journey has implications for you, the consumer. 

Agro Photovoltaics (APV) is a unique model of collocating food and fuel. While safeguarding traditional livelihood, it creates new income avenues for farmers. In this Op-ed, the authors observe that government initiatives such as PM-KUSUM can act as catalysts to take this model forward, empowering farmers along the way.

According to Niti Aayog, the demand for energy in India is set to grow from the current level of 5,311 TWh to 18,635 TWh by 2047, an increment of 3.5 times. As demand for energy observes an unprecedented increase, it becomes pertinent to explore novel sources of energy, such as distributed renewable energy systems (DRES).

The novel coronavirus pandemic has brought the world to a standstill. It has created a lot of uncertainty for many businesses. The outbreak has affected the Indian solar industry, hampering manufacturing and project development. According to CRISIL, 3 GW-solar projects of ₹160 billion are likely to get affected due to delays. This is a matter of concern for Indian project developers. But, amid this gloom, there is a silver lining. There is a lot to discuss about how India has achieved new records in solar power generation.

The advent of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic had forced India to resort to a lockdown. To contain the spread of COVID-19, nationwide lockdown had been announced in phases since 24 March. This has adversely affected the power sector, hitting the demand and collection, and hence, the financial health of distribution companies (DISCOMs).

Bengalureans are familiar with frequent power cuts lasting several hours, sometimes through the day. Irregular power supply interrupts our daily routines, especially with respect to work since many of us are working from home these days. It could also damage household appliances like refrigerators, air-conditioners and TV sets. In the case of medium, small and micro industries, erratic power supply affects production.

A thermo-economic evaluation of a steam Rankine cycle and an ORC for similar operation conditions and power outputs suggests the promise of organic working fluids for high temperature ORCs. Key conclusions are:

1. The thermal efficiency of steam Rankine is only marginally better than that of the ORC.

This article looks at the current policy framework on e-waste as well as policy clarity and interventions needed in order to manage impending photovoltaic (PV) waste.