{"id":55315,"date":"2025-07-17T11:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T05:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=55315"},"modified":"2025-07-17T11:05:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T05:35:00","slug":"india-hits-50-non-fossil-fuel-power-capacity-5-years-early","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/india-hits-50-non-fossil-fuel-power-capacity-5-years-early\/","title":{"rendered":"India Hits 50% Non-Fossil Fuel Power Capacity 5 Years Early"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>India Clean Energy Target Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has reached 50% of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil fuel sources, five years before its Paris Agreement target. This milestone highlights India\u2019s strong commitment to climate action and sustainable development.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>India Reaches 50% Non-Fossil Fuel Power Capacity<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As of June 30, 2025, India has achieved a major climate milestone: <\/span><b>50.1% of its installed electricity capacity now comes from non-fossil fuel sources<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Back in 2015, non-fossil sources made up only 30% of India\u2019s capacity, which grew to 38% by 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This achievement comes five years ahead of its 2030 target under the Paris Agreement.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The sharp increase over the last five years is largely due to solar and wind energy growth.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s total installed power capacity now stands at 485 gigawatts (GW). Out of this:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">185 GW comes from renewables like solar, wind, small hydro, and biogas.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">49 GW comes from large hydro projects.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">9 GW comes from nuclear energy.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Thermal power, mostly from coal and gas, now accounts for 242 GW or 49.9%.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This is a significant drop from 70% in 2015.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s clean energy transition is progressing faster than expected.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Renewable Energy Grows, But Thermal Power Still Dominates in India<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India has made strong progress in expanding renewable energy, mainly through solar and wind power.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By 2024, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India became the fourth-largest country in renewable installed capacity, after China, the US, and Brazil<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, even though thermal power capacity now accounts for less than 50% of total installed capacity, <\/span><b>it still produces over 70% of India\u2019s actual electricity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is because renewable sources like solar and wind are not available all the time, while thermal plants provide steady, round-the-clock power.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To reduce thermal power\u2019s share and meet the goal of 500 GW non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030, India will need major efforts to stabilise and strengthen its electricity grid.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>India\u2019s Power Grid Faces Challenges Due to Low Storage Capacity<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From April 2020 to June 2025, India added 95 GW of solar and wind power, making up 35% of the country\u2019s total installed capacity.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, this <\/span><b>fast growth in renewable energy has created grid stability issues<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> because <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India lacks enough power storage systems like batteries and pumped hydro<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When renewable generation is high and demand is low, the extra power cannot be stored.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, on May 30, 2024, India faced its peak electricity demand of 250 GW, but grid managers struggled as renewable supply was low and thermal plants couldn\u2019t fully cover the gap.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similarly, in May 2025, erratic rains caused weak demand, making solar power prices drop to zero on some afternoons.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These situations show how important storage is for absorbing extra renewable power and releasing it during peak demand. Without enough storage, grid instability increases and investors hesitate to fund new renewable projects.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By the end of 2024, India had less than 5 GW of storage capacity: 4.75 GW from <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/psh\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pumped storage<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and just 110 MW from battery storage.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strengthening storage systems is crucial for managing India\u2019s growing renewable energy share.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>India Focuses on Energy Storage, But Progress Remains Slow<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In February 2025, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) advised co-locating energy storage systems with new solar projects.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Ministry of Power also expanded its viability gap funding (VGF) scheme, now supporting 43 GWh of battery storage with \u20b95,400 crore in funding.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the pumped hydro front, India plans to add 51 GW of capacity by 2032. To encourage investment, the government has extended the waiver on inter-state transmission system (ISTS) charges for storage projects until June 2028.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite these policy moves, actual progress has been slow. Very few battery storage projects have been commissioned so far, even though bid prices have fallen.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Challenges include high upfront costs, import duties, and strict domestic content rules. Approvals for pumped hydro projects are also delayed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">China\u2019s dominance in the global battery supply chain adds another layer of risk for India, especially with China\u2019s restrictions on exporting key materials like rare earths.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Challenges Slowing India\u2019s Renewable Energy Growth<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s renewable energy sector is shifting towards hybrid tenders combining solar, wind, and storage for better grid stability.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, around 30 GW of older projects still lack power purchase agreements (PPAs), creating cash flow issues for developers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another major constraint is the limited supply of high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transformers, essential for long-distance power transmission.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With rising global demand and few manufacturers, delays in transformer supply are affecting grid access and could slow down new capacity addition.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Underinvestment in transmission infrastructure further adds to these challenges.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/business\/indias-green-power-capacity-overtakes-thermal-10129592\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IE<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> |\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/energy-and-environment\/share-of-clean-energy-in-indias-electricity-less-than-30-despite-50-of-installed-capacity\/article69820007.ece#:~:text=India%20may%20have%20achieved%20an,actually%20supplied%20is%20below%2030%25.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TH<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India achieves 50.1% installed power capacity from non-fossil sources by June 2025, surpassing Paris target five years early.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":55332,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1601,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-55315","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-india-clean-energy-target","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}