Renewable energy could fuel India's economic growth
Renewable energy will play an important role in sustainably meeting India's growing energy needs. This was the message delivered by Adnan Amin, director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) at RE-Invest, the First Renewable Energy Global Investors' Meet & Expo in New Delhi.
India is the world's third largest economy and the fourth largest energy consumer. By 2030, the nation is expected to overtake China as the world's most populous nation, requiring more than twice as much energy than is needed today.
'India's increasing demand for energy can no longer be met through traditional energy sources alone,' said Amin in his keynote address. 'Renewable energy must be a major part of the solution because it can meet the demand cheaply and sustainably while at the same time achieving broader socio-economic objectives.'
According to IRENA's new report Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2014, the cost of generating power from renewable energy sources has reached parity or dropped below the cost of fossil fuels for many technologies in many parts of the world. Biomass, as well as other technologies such as hydropower, geothermal, wind and solar, are all competitive with or cheaper than coal, oil and gas-fired power stations. This holds true even without financial support and despite falling oil prices.
India has some of the lowest development costs for renewable technologies worldwide. Average installed costs for biomass, hydropower and onshore wind in India are between $1,240 and $1,390 (€1,090-1,220) per kW. India's significant volumes of agricultural residues (e.g. straw and sugarcane bagasse) also provide some of the lowest cost electricity in the world with an average cost of $0.04/kWh.
'Falling prices are driving renewable energy investment in India, which rose 13% last year and is expected to surpass $10 billion in 2015,' said Amin. 'Adoption of increasingly cost-effective renewables holds the genuine promise of a new age of socio-economic development, powered by clean, increasingly decentralised, and sustainable energy. The opportunity for India is tremendous.'
In addition to being increasingly economical, Amin stressed that renewable energy provides strong social and environmental benefits, simultaneously improving public health and security, creating jobs, reducing air pollution, boosting GDP and improving the balance of trade. The renewable energy industry now employs 6.5 million people globally, a number IRENA estimates could top 16 million by 2030. India is the world's fourth largest employer in the sector, with 391,000 renewable energy jobs.
'India has one of the most ambitious renewable energy programmes in the world and developments in India will strongly influence the trajectory of the energy transformation worldwide. The signs of progress so far are encouraging, and the attendance here today is testament to the recognition that renewables are a fantastic investment opportunity,' Amin concluded.
