India’s renewable energy accounted for 44.3% of the country’s total power capacity mix (450.7 GW as of September 2024), with 199.5 GW installed at the end of Q3 2024, according to data from the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Mercom reported.
Solar energy accounted for 19.6% of the country’s total installed power capacity in Q3 of 2024, and 44.3% of the installed renewable capacity. Last year at the same time solar energy was at 16.5% of the total installed power capacity and 39.4% of renewable energy.
Renewable energy’s (177.1 GW) contribution to the overall power mix was 41.8% at the end of Q2 2024. Both wind and large hydro accounted for 10.5% of each of the country’s cumulative installed power capacity at the end of September. Biomass and small hydropower contributed 2.4% and 1.1%, respectively. The installed capacity of small hydropower increased by 1.4% QoQ and 1.9% YoY. Waste-to-energy projects contributed a meager 0.1% to the country’s power mix, which rose 1.8% QoQ and 5.4% YoY.
Coal-based thermal power constituted 46.8%, gas 5.5%, nuclear 1.8%, lignite 1.5%, and diesel 0.13% of the total installed power capacity. Coal remained the leading power source at 211 GW.
Chandigarh high court allows privatisation of DISCOM
The power union in Chandigarh lost an anti-privatisation case as Chandigarh high court gave green signal for the privatisation of electricity maintaining that it was not within the judiciary’s domain to decide whether a public policy is wise or a better one can be developed. While disposing of petitions by the UT Powermen Union and Federation of Sectors Welfare Association, the high court rejected the contention that the Union territory’s policy to privatise power distribution violates the Electricity Act, 2003, Mercom reported. The high court drew upon the Supreme Court’s pronouncements in the Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) privatisation case.
NTPC Green targets to invest Rs 1 lakh cr in solar, wind assets by 2027
NTPC Green Energy plans to invest up to Rs1 lakh crore in solar and wind assets by FY27, reported the Economic Times, adding that about 20% of which may come from equity. The company will need Rs 20,000 crore of its own funds for the expansion, the report said, adding that Rs 10,000 crore of funds will be coming through the upcoming initial public offering.
The company will be able to raise the remaining resources through internal accruals. The NTPC has an installed capacity of 3,220 MW right now, and is aiming to take up the same number to 6,000 MW by March 2025, 11,000 MW by March 2026 and 19,000 by March 2027. The report explained that the company will operate at a level where 90% of the capacity will be solar, which requires an investment of Rs 5 crore per MW, and the rest will be wind which needs Rs 8 crore per MW, the report said.
Critical mineral mining for renewable energy spark violence in SE Asia: study
Mining for critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper, essential for electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and electric grids, was linked to 334 incidents of violence, protests and deaths between 2021 and 2023 mostly in Asia, found a new study by Global Witness, Dialogue Earth reported.
Southeast Asia, with some of the world’s largest mineral reserves, has become a particular hotspot of unrest. Indonesia houses almost a quarter of the world’s nickel reserves, followed closely by the Philippines, while Vietnam and Myanmar possess between 10% and 20% of the world’s rare earth elements, the outlet reported.
Communities in these countries are bearing the brunt of global efforts to mine these resources to support the energy transition. “You’re essentially still grabbing their land, you’re still stealing their resources, you’re still taking away their lives, livelihoods and homes to conduct mineral exploration and extraction activities,” said Prarthana Rao, manager of the business and human rights programme at FORUM-ASIA.
The report stated that copper mining will increase by over 25% by 2028, cobalt by more than 100%, lithium over 300% and nickel over 75%. Authors said the financial rewards mainly benefit production companies in wealthier nations like Australia, the United States, Switzerland and China, the report found.
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