Davos 2023: Storage Deficit Key Hurdle For Green Energy Adoption, Says Power Minister

Fossil fuel usage cannot be ruled out yet as storage remains the primary hurdle in the way of zero-emission commitments, according to RK Singh, the Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy.

"You can't have 100% green energy until you have solved the problem of storage," Singh told BQ Prime's Niraj Shah, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum summit in Davos, on Thursday.

"The sun doesn't shine at night, the wind doesn't blow when it doesn't blow. You still need energy then," he said.

Therefore, there is a need to have a base load, which the renewables—except hydro—does not provide, he said. The base load will come from different sources for different countries, according to the Minister.

"My overall capacity from coal has come down from near 95% to about 58%; 42% is already non-fossil (energy)," he said. "By 2030, I will have 500 GW of non-fossil out of (a) total capacity of 820 GW. I think it would be around 900 GW."

Singh highlighted that the share of green energy in India's overall energy mix is on the rise and that of coal is reducing, but doing away with it altogether can happen only when storage becomes available.

The costs would have been less if developed economies had added storage capacity and manufacturing, he said.

The Power Minister said his ministry had floated a bid for 1,000 MW storage capacity, where the successful bidder had quoted a price of 5 kW/h against other bids or twice as high. The successful bid by NTPC Ltd. will be considered going ahead, he said.

Addressing concerns on insufficient thermal energy capacity being generated, Singh said there is 28,000 MW thermal power capacity already under construction, to which 15,000-20,000 MW might have to be added.

But, the overall share of thermal power will come down in the days to come, he said.

Singh does not expect scarcity of capital and said that the bids had been structured in such a way that they are totally transparent.

"It's a great place to invest and I'm getting investments. The capacity that we have set up—177 GW—and another 75 GW is under construction. I have not had to put in a single penny," he said.

The government as well as private companies have concrete plans for manufacturing of 6 million tonnes of green hydrogen and 32 MT green ammonia, according to the Minister.

According to him, the production target of 10 MT of green hydrogen by 2030 is within reach.