The National Electricity Plan recently released by the Central Electricity Authority of India states that India will not consider building new coal-fired power plants in the next five years, but will focus on developing renewable energy generation. This plan is an important step forward for India to increase its renewable energy target, which is to increase the share of renewable energy in its energy structure and increase its non fossil fuel energy production capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030.
India’s national power plan is released every 5 years, outlining India’s power generation strategy and priorities. This year’s document states that as renewable energy is gradually introduced into India’s energy structure, large-scale renewable energy production capacity may pose a challenge to power generation. India has launched a new plan to propose the construction of an 8600 megawatt battery storage system, but has not considered investing in new natural gas power plants.
According to data from the Indian Ministry of Electricity, coal and lignite account for 49.3% and 1.6% of the country’s electricity generation, respectively. In addition, natural gas power generation accounts for 6%, while non fossil fuel power generation accounts for 41.4%, including hydropower, wind energy, solar energy, and other renewable energy sources. Recently, Indian Petroleum Naturgy said that it plans to invest 12.1 billion US dollars by 2030 to balance its energy portfolio in fossil fuels with green projects.