Navigating the energy transition in India: challenges and opportunities towards sustainable energy goal
Preeti Prajapati, Ru Guo, Angzu Cai, Rajendra Prashad
Abstract
India holds a pivotal position in the evolving global energy landscape, presenting immense opportunities alongside notable challenges. The nation’s energy transition aims to address the increasing energy demand while curbing carbon emissions to tackle climate change. According to the World Energy Outlook 2024, India’s energy demand was 1074 Mtoe in 2023 and is expected to rise to 1921 Mtoe by 2040. Key challenges in this shift include economic and social risks from job losses in the fossil fuel sector, heavy dependence on coal, inconsistent policies, and inadequate infrastructure for integrating renewable energy. Additionally, the transition faces technological hurdles, land acquisition issues, market barriers and water challenges. India with 18 % of the population and just 4% of the world’s water supply faces the challenges of being water stressed country. Water is very important for India’s energy sector especially in energy generation which the paper focusses upon. India possesses significant renewable energy potential, particularly in solar and wind power within its energy mix, bolstered by strong government policies, international agreements, and technological advancements. As of September 2024, India’s solar energy capacity reached 90.76 GW, while wind energy capacity stood at 47.36 GW, significantly advancing the country’s energy transition. India’s commitment to sustainability is demonstrated by initiatives like the National Action Plan on Climate Change and its target of 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030 as mentioned in its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) set after the Paris Agreement. The paper focusses the problems that India is facing for its energy transition including but not limited to its dependency on fossil fuels, social barriers, economic constraints and technological challenges and the way it is addressing these challenges. The current status of India’s energy mix has been mentioned and the evolution of the energy policy has been analysed. India has some great policies on ground but the efforts should be made for the stronger implementation of these policies for the sustainable energy transition. Key findings show that while India has done well in deployment of renewable energy, societal barriers, economic limits, technological limits and the dependence on fossil fuels still plague India. India’s energy transition will play a pivotal role in shaping global energy policies. India’s experience shows that, for a low carbon future, strong policies, innovation and immediate action is the key, and that this experience can provide the lessons for global energy transitions to be low carbon, and yet fair and equitable.