India Boosts Renewable Energy Capacity

The U.S. is lifting restrictions on Indian nuclear entities, making it easier for the two countries to carry out business in the civil nuclear sector. The move was announced by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan at a press briefing in New Delhi on Monday.

U.S. restrictions had been placed on Indian nuclear entities after India had carried out nuclear weapons tests back in 1998. VOA News reports that while a deal signed in 2007 between the two nations ended decades of sanctions, India’s liability rules - which say that accidents are the responsibility of the power plant manufacturer rather than the operator - were a sticking point for U.S. companies thinking of establishing power plants there.

According to the International Trade Administration, India is the third largest consumer of energy in the world and, with a population of an estimated 1.4 billion and a fast growing major economy, its energy consumption is only projected to rise. At the same time, India is hoping to bolster its renewable and nuclear energy sectors, while reducing its growth of greenhouse gas emissions and strengthening energy security.

As the following chart shows, although India is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels, namely coal - which, according to the ITA, it will continue to be for decades - it is making strides towards achieving a higher share of green energy in its mix. Data from India’s Ministry of Power & Central Electricity Authority shows that India increased its renewable capacity by 15.8 gigawatts between March 2022 and May 2023. This means that renewable energy accounted for 125.7 gigawatts (30.2 percent of India’s total energy) as of May 2023, the second biggest energy source after coal (49.1 percent). While hydro power too is renewable and lignite is a brown coal, the source lists these separately. Nuclear capacity remained the same in India between March 2022 and May 2023, but this will ramp up in the coming years.

Note: Capacity is not the same as electricity generation. For example, where power plants have the capacity to produce a certain amount of energy, that limit may not be reached if it is taken offline for maintenance, or in the case of solar, wind and hydro, due to weather conditions.