Coal-based power generation in the EU will increase for the second consecutive year in 2022 after recording an increase of 20% in 2021 while natural gas production in the U.S. during 2022 has reached an all-time high of 2.7 billion cubic meters per day. India depends on coal for 72% of its electricity generation and it is critical for the country to expedite medium-term and long-term strategies to ensure the sustainability of India’s coal & power sectors without hampering our energy security and human development. These strategies are explained in this report.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) defines energy security as the “uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price.” The ongoing energy crisis has forced several countries in the European Union (EU) to relax generation limits on coal-fired Thermal Power Plants (TPPs) or delay previously announced phase-out of TPPs and even reopen idle TPPs. Coal-based power generation in the EU will increase for the second consecutive year in 2022 after recording an increase of 20% in 2021 while natural gas production in the U.S. during 2022 has reached an all-time high of 2.7 billion cubic meters (bcm) per day spurred by the demand for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) from Europe.
Universal access to affordable and reliable energy services is crucial for people to meet basic needs and is a prerequisite to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While India has steadily increased annual per capita energy consumption, the country’s per capita energy consumption in 2021 was only one-third of the World average and one-eight of that of the high-income countries. India has been shielded from the ongoing energy crisis in the EU mainly because coal (largely produced by Government coal mines in the country) contributes 47 percent of the total energy consumption and 73 percent of the electricity generated in India.
Unlike developed countries, India also has the twin challenge of enhancing the Human Development Index while striving to reach Net Zero by 2070 with limited resources. Under these ‘National Circumstances’, India has no alternative but to depend on coal which is the only source of energy that the country must meet the growing energy needs of its 1.39 billion people securely and cost-effectively even as it continues to ramp up production of non-fossil fuel sources of energy to reduce the emissions intensity of India’s Gross Domestic Product as per the updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted to the UNFCCC.
Therefore, the energy transition for India will involve a different set of low-carbon development strategies with transfer of technology and low-cost international finance including from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as per the Paris agreement. These strategies are explained in this report with specific attention to the sustainability of the coal-fired power plants in India.