Energy Policy 123 (2018) 325–336

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Energy Policy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol

India's sustainable development goals – Glide path for India's power sector T
R. Srikanth
National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bengaluru, India

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: India has adopted the 2030 Agenda during the United Nations Summit held in September 2015. Energy is
Energy and environment intimately connected with 74% of the 169 targets related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be
Renewable energy achieved by 2030. Subsequently, India has also submitted its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for
Electricity policy the period 2021–2030 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). While the
Power sector reforms
Government of India (GOI) has ambitious plans for enhancing the installed capacity of RE sources, 75% of its
Low-carbon economy
electricity is currently generated by coal-fired power plants. As India's electricity requirements grow to meet the
aspirations of 1.3 Bi people, it needs a policy framework that integrates all low-carbon energy technologies with
coal in such a manner that the reliability, security, and affordability of electric supply are balanced with sus-
tainable development. India also needs to develop innovative strategies to clean up the country's coal sector
while enhancing the integration of renewable energy into the National Power Grid. In this context, certain
recommendations are proposed in this article for timely implementation by GOI to facilitate the achievement of
India's targets with respect to SDG 7 and the NDCs in an efficient and effective manner.

1. Introduction The World Bank has documented the inter-connections between

The global consciousness for the protection of environment in the
early seventies prompted Government of India (GOI) to amend the
Constitution of India in 1976, to mandate that protection and im-
provement of natural environment is the Duty of the State (Article 48 A
- Directive Principles of State Policy) and the Fundamental Duty (Article
51 A (g)) of every citizen (MLJ, 2016a). In 1991, the Hon Supreme
Court of India even made the environment a part of the Fundamental
Rights of every Citizen by declaring that, “Right to live is a fundamental
right under Art. 21 of the Constitution and includes the right of enjoyment of
pollution free water and air for full enjoyment of life (Subhash Kumar
versus State of India and Others, 1991).
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) fi-
nalized by the United Nations includes 17 Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) and 169 associated targets to measure the progress to-
wards achievement of the 2030 Agenda. The SDGs are integrated and
indivisible and balance the economic, social, and environmental di-
mensions of sustainable development (United Nations, 2015). India has
adopted the 2030 Agenda during the United Nations Summit held in
September 2015 (United Nations, 2017). Unlike the Millennium De-
velopment Goals, which preceded the SDGs, provision of energy ser-
vices has found an important place amongst the SDGs (United Nations,
2015). Specifically, SDG 7 is to: ‘Ensure access to affordable, reliable,
sustainable, and modern energy for all.’
energy and 125 out of the 169 targets (74%) related to the 17 SDGs.
Therefore, ‘planning for universal access to modern energy services should
be an integral part of national planning efforts to achieve the SDGs’ (World
Bank, 2017). Subsequent to the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, India
ratified the Paris Agreement on 2 October 2016 and has submitted inter
alia the following NDCs to the UNFCCC for the period 2021–2030
(MOEFandCC, 2017a; UNFCCC, 2015).
• Reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions intensity of India's Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) by 33–35% by 2030 from the 2005 level;
• Enhance generation capacity of non-fossil fuel based sources to 40%
of all sources by 2030 with the help of transfer of technology and
low-cost international finance including from Green Climate Fund;
• Create an additional carbon sink of 2.5–3 billion tonnes of CO2
equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
Affordable, reliable and modern energy services are crucial to
achieving all of the SDGs. Therefore, SDG 7 is central to every major
challenge that India has to overcome today and in the near future. In
this context, the key purpose of this article is to examine India's strategy
and ongoing action plans to achieve SDG 7 as well as the NDCs by 2030,
assess any gaps in the path towards achievement of these National
goals, and suggest measures to bridge these gaps. Specifically, there is a
need to develop an orderly transition to a low-carbon economy, so that

E-mail address: rsrikanth@nias.res.in.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.08.050
Received 3 May 2018; Received in revised form 18 August 2018; Accepted 21 August 2018
Available online 12 September 2018
0301-4215/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
R. Srikanth
India can achieve its SDGs and NDCs in an efficient, effective and
sustainable manner.
This article has six more sections. Section 2 gives a brief overview of
India's electricity (power) sector. Section 3 summarizes India's key ac-
tions to address climate change. Section 4 discusses the key challenges
to be overcome for India to achieve its NDCs and the SDG targets re-
lated to energy. Since India's power sector is highly dependent on coal,
Section 5 indicates the key clean coal technologies adopted by India to
enhance environmental compliance of its Coal-fired Power Plants
(CPPs). Section 6 indicates the key policies to be implemented by India
to enhance its carbon sink. Section 7 concludes with overall policy re-
commendations.
2. India's electricity sector
India is the third largest electricity generator in the World behind
China and USA, but its per capita electricity consumption of 1117 kWh
in 2017 was less than one-fourth that of China, and one-third of the
World average (BP, 2018a; World Bank, 2018). During the Financial
Year 2017–18 (FY 18), coal, gas, hydro, nuclear, and Renewable Energy
(RE) sources (including, wind, solar, bio-energy, small hydro) con-
tributed: 75%, 4%, 10%, 3%, and 8%, respectively of the 1309 TWh of
total electricity generated by utilities in India (CEA, 2018a). Non-uti-
lities (captive power plants that produce electricity largely for con-
sumption in their own industrial plant(s) and release the surplus to the
grid) generated 19.7 TWh in FY 17 on top of the 1242 TWh generated
by utilities in that year (MOSPI, 2018). During FY 18, the share of CPPs
in the total electricity generated in India varied between 70% (during
the monsoon months of July and August 2017 when large hydropower
plants contributed 14.7% of the total electricity generated) and 80%
(during the post-monsoon months of January and February 2018) with
an annual average of just over 75% (see Fig. 1).
The installed capacity of electricity generation in India increased by
99.2 GW between April 2012 and March 2017 against a targeted ex-
pansion of 88.5 GW (CEA, 2018a). As a result, the All-India average
energy deficit (gap between ‘energy requirement’ and ‘energy supplied’)
was only 0.7% during FY 18, while the power deficit (gap between
‘peak demand’ and ‘peak met’) was approximately 2% during the same
period (MOP, 2018a). These figures indicate a great improvement in
electricity supply when compared with the All-India average energy
deficit of 8.7% and power deficit of 9% as recently as in FY 13 (CEA,
2018b). However, several CPPs in India are under financial stress due to
the lack of inadequate demand in the form of Power Purchase Agree-
ments (PPAs) from State-owned Power Distribution Companies or
DISCOMS (Lok Sabha, 2018a).
Electricity is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution of India.
Distribution of electricity and management of associated functions are
Fig. 1. The contribution of various sources to electricity generation in India
during FY 18.
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Energy Policy 123 (2018) 325–336
handled by DISCOMS which are largely owned by the respective State
Governments. Therefore, the inherent variability in the quality of
governance in each State has resulted in disparities not only in the last
mile electricity distribution systems in the respective States but also in
the financial health of the DISCOMS serving these States. These dis-
parities are also evident in the large variations between the power
deficits in different regions as well as between the States. For example,
the State of Maharashtra with the highest power demand of 23.4 GW
during FY 18 had a power deficit of only 0.2%, while the State of Uttar
Pradesh which had the second highest peak demand in India (20.5 GW)
had a power deficit of 10.9% during the same period (MOP, 2018c).
According to India's Ministry of Power (MOP), of the 177 million
rural households in the country, only 152 million (86%) have been
provided with an electrical connection as on 11 July 2018 (MOP,
2018b). On the other hand, the Ministry has also declared that India is a
power ‘surplus’ country because the total installed electricity genera-
tion capacity in the country exceeds 344 GW against a peak demand
which has never exceeded 170 GW till date (MOP, 2018c). The deficit in
supply to the aforesaid 25 million rural households is primarily because
of the DISCOMs’ reluctance to procure power from the generating
companies, either because they lack the funds required to procure
adequate quantum of power to meet the unserved/under-served de-
mand or because they want to limit their losses due to under-recoveries
from these consumers, or both. Further, several DISCOMS in India re-
sort to power cuts during peak hours rather than procuring costlier
power to meet the peak demand.
Central Electricity Authority (CEA, 2018c) has projected that during
the ongoing FY 19:
• India's requirement of electrical energy will increase to 1337 TWh
from the FY 18 level of 1309 TWh while the peak demand will ex-
ceed 180 GW from the FY 18 level of 164 GW.
• At the All-India level, India is likely to have a peak surplus of 2.5%
in terms of electrical power and a surplus of 4.6% in electrical en-
ergy; however, the Northern, and Southern regions of the country
are likely to face power deficits of the order of 1.2% and 4.5%, re-
spectively.
As per India's National Electricity Plan prepared by the CEA, the
quantum of electricity required to meet India's growth aspirations is
projected to increase to 1566 TWh in FY 22 and further to 2047 TWh in
FY 27 (CEA, 2018b). In line with the increasing requirement of elec-
trical energy, the peak electricity demand is projected to increase from
the FY 18 level of 164 GW to 226 GW in 2022 and further to 299 GW in
FY 27 (MOP, 2018a, 2018d). As of 31 March 2018, fossil fuel sources
have a share of 65% in the total electrical generation capacity of
electrical utilities in India, while non-fossil fuel (hydro, nuclear, and
RE) sources have the balance 35% of generation capacity in India (CEA,
2018d). Further, power plants with a total generation capacity of
58 GW comprising of 48 GW thermal, 6.8 GW hydro, and 3.3 GW nu-
clear, are at various stages of construction. These new power plants will
progressively replace old and inefficient CPPs with a combined capacity
of 22.7 GW that are not in a position to comply with current environ-
ment norms (MOP, 2018d). In addition, GOI is also projecting an in-
crease in RE capacity to 175 GW by March 2022 from the March 2018
level of 69 GW (CEA, 2018b, 2018d). Even after the generation capacity
of RE sources reaches the projected level of 175 GW by FY 22, RE
sources are expected to generate only 19% of the electricity produced in
India in FY 22 compared to their current share of 8% (CEA, 2018a;
MOP, 2018d). However, the share of RE in the total electricity gener-
ated in the Southern and Western regions of the country will be much
higher than the All-India average (NREL, 2017a, 2017b).
A committee set up by India's Ministry of Power (MOP) has sub-
mitted broad recommendations for an optimal energy mix for India
during 2022 and 2027 under various scenarios (MOP, 2018d). The base
case studied by this committee is based on GOI's projections for RE
R. Srikanth
generation capacity to reach 175 GW by March 2022 and 275 GW by
March 2027. In this base case scenario, CPPs are projected to generate
63% and 56% of the total electricity generated by utilities in FY 22 and
FY 27, respectively (MOP, 2018d). However, in absolute terms, coal-
based generation by utilities is expected to increase from 986 TWh in
FY 18 to 1072 TWh in FY 22 and further to 1239 TWh in FY 27 (CEA,
2018a; MOP, 2018d). If GOI's projections for 175 GW of RE capacity in
2022 are not realized, the share of CPPs during 2022 will increase
beyond their projected share of 63% in the base case since CPPs are
currently underutilized in India (CEA, 2018c).
The dependence on coal for power generation in India is due to its
relative abundance within the country. India is the second largest coal
producer in the World and produced 716 MT of coal in 2017 with a
global share of 9.3% (BP, 2018a). On a reserve basis, India has the 5th
largest endowment with 9.4% (98 billion tons or BT) of the world's
proved coal reserves at the end of 2017, but just 0.3% and 0.6% of
world's oil and natural gas reserves, respectively (BP, 2018b). In India,
coal has a reserve to production ratio (defined as the ratio of the re-
maining proven reserves that are economically recoverable at the end
of any year to the production in that year) of 136, whereas the corre-
sponding figures for oil and gas are only 14 and 44 years, respectively
(BP, 2018b).
Electricity consumption in India is likely to increase by approxi-
mately 241% between 2016 and 2040 during which the share of RE
sources in electricity generation is projected to increase from 5% to
23% to balance the declining share of CPPs from 77% to 64% during the
same period (BP, 2018c). GOI has initiated the 24 × 7 Power for All
(PFA) program to supply uninterrupted quality power to existing con-
sumers and to provide electricity access to all unconnected customers
by 2019 in a phased manner. The overriding objective of the PFA
program is to achieve, ‘24 × 7 Affordable and Quality Power for All’ (PIB,
2018a). The PFA program is directly related to the SDG 7 through its
focus on all key aspects related to electricity, viz., affordability, relia-
bility, and sustainability.
However, the power and banking sectors of the Indian economy are
reeling from a gross supply-demand mismatch leading to stressed assets
(Business Line, 2018; PIB, 2018b). As a result, ‘the weak financial health
of the state-owned distribution utilities has led to slow progress in the signing
of long-term PPAs through competitive bidding, with only 1.4 GW capacity
tied up through long-term PPAs over the past three years’ (Livemint, 2017).
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Energy has documented 34
stressed coal-fired Thermal Power Projects (TPPs) with a total out-
standing debt of approximately Rs.1.75 Trillion, largely from GOI-
owned Financial Institutions (Lok Sabha, 2018a). The total generation
capacity of these stressed TPPs exceeds 40 GW, out of which TPPs with
a total capacity of 24 GW have already been commissioned (Lok Sabha,
2018a).
The stress in the power sector may be accentuated in future since
several State Government-owned utilities are putting up greenfield
CPPs even when the total installed generation capacity in India is more
than double the peak demand (MOP, 2018c). For example, the Gov-
ernment utilities in the RE-rich States of Tamil-Nadu and Telangana
have started construction on two CPPs with capacities of 1320 MW and
4000 MW respectively during the last nine months (BHEL, 2017a,
2017b). These greenfield CPPs are being financed by GOI-controlled
financial institutions, viz., Power Finance Corporation and Rural Elec-
trification Corporation. In order to resolve the stranded assets in the
power sector, GOI has set up an Empowered Committee headed by the
Cabinet Secretary with representatives from the Ministries of Coal, Fi-
nance, Power, and Railways along with the major lenders to the power
sector (PIB, 2018b).
3. India's action plans to address climate change
India is one of the world's most vulnerable countries to climate
change, and analyses of granular temperature and rainfall data indicate
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Energy Policy 123 (2018) 325–336
that extreme temperature increases and rainfall deficiencies due to
climate change adversely affect agriculture yields, particularly in uni-
rrigated regions of India (MOF, 2018a). As per UNEP (2017) data, In-
dia's per capita emission of 1.6 t (CO2 equivalent) in 2015 was about
38% of the World average (4.4 t) and less than one-fourth of that of
China (6.6 t). In 2015, the power sector was the largest contributor of
CO2 emissions in India, contributing about 50% (1066 Mt) of the 2066
Mt of total CO2 emissions from fuel combustion (IEA, 2017a). There-
fore, GOI is implementing the following key initiatives to meet its
NDCs:
• Ensuring widespread use of energy-efficient LED lamps and other
energy-efficient appliances, which are currently reducing CO2
emissions by about 31 Mt per year, besides avoiding a peak demand
of 7714 MW of electricity (UJALA, 2018);
• Implementing an agricultural demand-side management program in
which inefficient pump sets are being replaced by 5-star-rated en-
ergy-efficient pump sets that can also be powered by dedicated solar
panels (EESL, 2018);
• Increasing the contribution of electricity generated by Super-Critical
(SC) technology, since the design efficiency of a Super-Critical CPP
is 5% higher than that of a 500 MW subcritical CPP in India, thereby
lowering CO2 emissions (MOP, 2017a).
• Setting a stretch target of 175 GW for RE generation capacity by
2022 from the March 2018 level of 69 GW (CEA, 2018b, 2018d);
• Enforcing Bharat Stage-IV (BS IV) standards for four-wheeled ve-
hicles, followed by the nation-wide transition from BS-IV to BS-VI by
April 1, 2020 (Down-to-Earth, 2017a);
• Subsidizing the installation of roof-top solar plants on all private
buildings and institutions, while granting achievement-linked in-
centives to government departments and companies installing
rooftop solar plants (Solar Rooftop, 2018);
• Launching the International Solar Alliance (ISA) jointly with France
on 30 November 2015, to enhance collaboration among countries
lying between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn for
the promotion of solar energy (ISA, 2017);
• Launching National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC),
comprising of eight missions in specific areas of solar energy, en-
hanced energy efficiency, habitat, water, sustaining Himalayan
ecosystems, forestry, agriculture, and strategic knowledge for cli-
mate change to achieve climate goals (MOEFandCC, 2016).
• Developing four National Missions, namely National Solar Mission,
National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency, National Mission
on Sustainable Habitat, and Green India Mission to give a special
thrust to climate change mitigation (MOEFandCC, 2016).
• Implementing the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan which
includes the promotion of electric vehicles, as a part of the NAPCC
(DHI, 2017).
4. Key challenges in achieving India's NDCs and SDG 7
GOI aims to achieve the pre-2020 voluntary pledge of reducing the
emissions intensity of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 20–25%
over 2005 levels by 2020. The emissions intensity of India's GDP has
already reduced by 12% between 2005 and 2010 (MOEFandCC, 2016).
The package of measures proposed by GOI in the National Electricity
Plan (NEP) is projected to reduce the average CO2 emissions of India's
power sector from 0.732 kg per kWh in FY 16 to 0.522 kg per kWh in FY
27 (CEA, 2018b). India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
(MNRE) has stated that each megawatt hour of electricity produced
from RE sources in India abates 0.96 t of CO2 emission (MNRE, 2018a).
GOI has enacted a number of policy measures for increasing the share of
renewable energy in India's energy mix (MNRE, 2018b). As a result,
electricity generation by RE sources has increased from 5.6% of total
electricity generated by Indian utilities in FY 16 to reach a level of 8%
during FY 18 (MNRE, 2018a). The United Nations Environment
R. Srikanth
Program has recognized India as one of the countries on track to
achieve its voluntary pre-2020 pledge, and also likely to achieve its
2030 NDC targets if the current policies are fully implemented (UNEP,
2017).
In order to provide a framework for procurement of solar and wind
power through a transparent, standardized process of tariff-based bid-
ding, India's Ministry of Power (MOP) has issued Standard Bidding
Guidelines (SBG) for tariff-based competitive bidding for solar power
and wind power on 3 August 2017 and 8 December 2017, respectively
(MOP, 2017b, 2017c). During the auctions conducted by power pro-
curers adopting these SBGs, wind and solar energy tariffs have dropped
below Rs.3 per kWh from the tariffs exceeding Rs.5 per kWh prior to
2014 (Lok Sabha, 2018b). By March 2018, wind power (34 GW) ac-
counted for nearly 50% of the total RE capacity in India (69 GW) and
55% of electricity generated by RE sources in India (CEA, 2018a). India
is not only the fourth largest producer of wind power in the World but
also has a strong manufacturing base with an annual manufacturing
capacity of 10 GW (MOP, 2017c), unlike in solar PV modules where
India is largely dependent on imports (Bridge to India, 2018).
However, MNRE has missed the targets for solar and wind capacity
additions by wide margins in both FY 17 and FY 18, though these two
sources together are projected to account for 160 GW of the target RE
capacity of 175 GW to be achieved by March 2022. While the slippage
with respect to MNRE's target for solar and wind energy capacity ad-
dition (combined) was 31% in FY 17, the slippage reduced to 21% in FY
18 (CEA, 2016, 2017a, 2018d; Lok Sabha, 2018b). Therefore, the cu-
mulative shortfall of 7.84 GW (26%) with respect to the cumulative
target of 30 GW in the total addition to the generation capacity of wind
and solar energy during the last two years must be compensated in the
next four years to achieve GOI's target of 175 GW of RE by 2022.
Further, analysis of data obtained from Power System Operation
Corporation Limited (POSOCO, 2018) indicates the high variability in
hydropower and wind power generation on a daily basis at the All-India
level even within the same month (see Figs. 2 and 3). The high varia-
bility of hydropower and wind energy on one hand and the peak re-
quirement of power after sunset in India on the other hand compound
the DISCOMs’ challenges in integrating larger quantities of RE into the
Grid unless suitable technical and policy measures are implemented in a
timely manner (see Fig. 4).
Therefore, India's power sector must overcome the following key
challenges to enable the achievement of India's targets related to the
NDCs and SDG 7:
4.1. Reduction of DISCOM losses
In 2015, GOI launched the ‘UDAY’ scheme to enable the DISCOMs to
reduce their interest burden, cost of procured power and Aggregate
Technical & Commercial (AT & C) losses (Lok Sabha, 2018c). This
scheme seeks to reduce the gap between the Average Cost of Supply
(ACS) and the Average Revenue Realized (ARR) to zero by FY 19 as per
defined trajectories to ensure the viability of the DISCOMS. However,
Fig. 2. Variability in large hydro power generation during FY 18.
data source: POSOCO.
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Energy Policy 123 (2018) 325–336
Fig. 3. Variability in wind power generation during FY 18.
data source: POSOCO.
more than two years after the introduction of the 'UDAY' scheme, the
average of AT & C losses of DISCOMs on an All-India basis has hardly
reduced from 20.74% in FY 16 to 18.76% in FY 18, though there is a
wide variation in the AT & C losses incurred in various DISCOMs of
India (MOP, 2018e; UDAY, 2018). In general, the AT & C losses are
higher in the DISCOMs of poorer States of India like Uttar Pradesh and
Bihar than in the relatively developed States like Maharashtra and
Tamil Nadu. Since we are already in the middle of FY 19, the DISCOMS
will have to ramp up the identified technical and operational measures
monitored by UDAY in order to reduce the AT & C losses to 15% by the
end of FY 19 as per ‘UDAY’ targets (MOP, 2018e; UDAY, 2018). Many of
these measures need better governance at the local level as well as more
financial assistance from GOI to enable DISCOMS to implement changes
like, laying of underground cables (in place of overhead lines) to reduce
power theft, upgradation of ‘last mile’ sub-distribution systems, provi-
sion of pre-paid meters for rural residential consumers, installation of
‘smart’ meters for industrial and commercial consumers, and separation
of rural feeders—all backed by a more effective law and order ma-
chinery.
The reduction in the interest burden of Government-owned
DISCOMs achieved by transferring 75% of their debts to the respective
State Governments is primarily responsible for the reduction in the
ACS-ARR gap from Rs.0.59/kWh in FY 16 to Rs. 0.40/kWh in FY 17
which has reduced their book losses by approximately Rs.170 Bi
(UDAY, 2018). More recently, the ACS-ARR gap during the first nine
months of FY 18 has further reduced to Rs.0.28/kWh from Rs.0.47/
kWh during the corresponding period in FY 17, against the goal of
reaching zero by FY 19 (UDAY, 2018). Therefore, accelerating the
progress of the Government-owned DISCOMs towards financial viabi-
lity continues to be the biggest challenge that India's power sector has
to overcome to help India achieve its SDGs by providing reliable and
affordable power to all.
4.2. Poor offtake of power due to uncertainties related to Power Purchase
Agreements (PPAs)
The unprecedented 64% increase in the power generation capacity
in India between April 2012 and March 2017, coupled with the lower
than expected growth in power demand during the last five years are
primarily responsible for the excessive supply-demand mismatch in
India's power sector. The supply-demand mismatch coupled with lower
prices discovered in solar and wind power auctions has prompted some
State-owned DISCOMs to either delay or even decline the signing of
Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for new RE capacity additions
(Financial Express, 2017a).
4.3. Barriers to the growth of off-grid solar energy sources
During its submission to the Standing Committee on Energy, MNRE
has admitted inter alia that, against a target of 40 GW from solar parks,
R. Srikanth
Fig. 4. All India electricity generation on the day of maximum demand.
data source: POSOCO.
they have received proposals for solar parks with a total capacity of
only 21 GW, and ‘States have not shown interest due to non-availability of
land’ (Lok Sabha, 2018b). However, the total generation capacity of
roof-top solar at the end of December 2017 was only 2.1 GW as against
the revised target of 40 GW by 2022 (Bridge to India, 2018). The key
reason for the poor progress of rooftop solar systems till date is the
DISCOMs’ anxiety at the prospect of losing a good customer who can
minimize his power bills by utilizing the ‘net-metering facility.’
Panagariya and Jain (2017) have explained how the clean cooking
deprivation problem in India (where the number of households without
clean cooking fuel is more than twice that without electricity) can be
solved faster if GOI incentivizes households in both rural and urban
areas to use electricity instead of cooking gas drawn from subsidized
cylinders of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) based on costly crude im-
ports. They have estimated that a consumption of 8–10 LPG cylinders
(14.2 kg each) per year in each household is equivalent to an electricity
consumption of approximately 1400 kWh per year which is 27% higher
than India's per capita electricity consumption in 2017. This indicates
that promoting the direct use of electricity for cooking is a more cost-
effective and self-reliant option for India.
Since electricity connections have been provided to nearly 86% of
the 177 million rural households in the country, GOI can incentivize the
DISCOMs to strengthen their sub-distribution system to enable induc-
tion stoves rather than subsidized LPG to be used for cooking (MOP,
2018b). Further, CEA (2018c) has stated that the existing CPPs in India
can generate an additional 300 TWh of electricity during FY 19.
Therefore, CPPs will incur only variable costs to generate the additional
power required to provide adequate electricity to all 177 million rural
households in India. This will also help to reduce the financial stress
faced by several IPPs due to lack of sufficient offtake from the DIS-
COMs.
An off-grid solar system with battery back-up solution may be
particularly attractive in the hilly tracts and remote rural areas of India
wherever the cost of extending and maintaining the electricity grid may
be economically unviable. Since Jhunjhunwala (2018) has proved the
potential of solar DC microgrids to solve the power woes of rural
households at much lower costs than conventional alternating current
(AC) power systems, GOI must consider promoting the domestic man-
ufacture of DC-powered appliances in addition to incentivizing solar DC
microgrids in rural and/or hilly areas. GOI is currently providing a
direct cash subsidy of Rs.1600 per LPG connection for eligible house-
holds and is also subsidizing LPG cylinders by approximately Rs.300 per
cylinder. Therefore, GOI must look at the household energy basket in a
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Energy Policy 123 (2018) 325–336
holistic manner to provide clean, affordable, and reliable energy to all
Indians at an optimal cost.
4.4. Grid Integration and Grid Balancing
GOI has recognized that the integration of 175 GW of Renewable
Energy (RE) into the National Electricity Grid (Grid) will be challenging
due to the intermittent nature of solar and wind energy (MNRE, 2017;
Lok Sabha, 2018b). Therefore, MOP has approved a project comprising
inter-State and intra-State transmission systems collectively called
‘Green Energy Corridors (GEC)’ to be completed by 2020 to facilitate
the integration of 175 GW of RE (PIB, 2016a). The inter-State trans-
mission system component of the GEC project involving 3200 circuit
kilometers of transmission lines and 18,000 MVA of substation capacity
is scheduled to be completed by May 2019 at an approximate cost of
Rs.114 Bi. The intra-State transmission system component of the GEC
project consisting of 9400 circuit kilometers of transmission lines and
19,000 MVA of substation capacity is being implemented by the re-
spective State utilities at an approved cost of Rs.101 Bi. Further, Na-
tional Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has also studied the im-
pact of adding 160 GW of solar and wind energy to the Grid. These
studies have indicated the need to implement policies like merit-order
based power dispatches at a regional level (in place of the current State-
level merit order system) and compensation for ancillary services.
These studies have also stressed the need to identify optimal locations
for new RE and associated inter- and intra-state transmission systems to
integrate 70 GW of solar and wind energy in the RE-rich Southern Re-
gion Grid by 2022 as planned (NREL, 2017a, 2017b, 2017c).
The Standing Committee of Parliament on Energy (Standing
Committee) after reviewing the progress of the GEC projects, has
opined that ‘the target seems unattainable during the remaining period.’ The
Standing Committee has recommended that the Ministry ‘should work
on a mission mode to get ready the Green Energy Corridor within the sti-
pulated time if they are serious about the Project’ (Lok Sabha, 2018b).
High RE generation also calls for backing down of conventional
generators because of the ‘must-run’ status of RE sources in India. The
conventional generators also have to be ramped up when RE generation
goes down while the power demand is constant or is increasing. The
ramp rate of a sub-critical CPP is in the range of 1–1.5% per minute
while it is 3% per minute for a super-critical CPP (CEA, 2017b). Ramp
rates for combined cycle (widely used technology for gas-based power
in India) gas-based power plants are up to 10% per minute, while that
for Hydro-Electric Projects (HEPs) can be as high as 50% per minute.
R. Srikanth
Therefore, hydropower is vital for balancing the grid as well as to meet
the peak demand as the proportion of RE ramps up towards GOI's
175 GW target. However, the share of hydropower in India's electricity
generation capacity has decreased from 25% in FY 08 to 13.5% in FY
18, while the contribution of hydropower to the total amount of elec-
tricity generated by utilities in India has reduced from 17.5% to 10.4%
during the same period (CEA, 2008; CEA, 2018a).
With the addition of more RE in the Grid, a corresponding increase
in hydropower capacity is critical for ensuring grid stability and for
meeting the peak demand which generally occurs after sunset in India
(Lok Sabha, 2018d). GOI is considering a proposal to declare all HEPs
(irrespective of size) as RE projects. This will enable HEPs which are
normally burdened with large gestation periods to receive various
concessions and/or assistance from GOI, thereby making hydropower
commercially attractive and viable (Lok Sabha, 2018d). In addition,
CEA has recommended construction of balancing facilities in some of
the existing HEPs to operate them as Pumped Storage Plants (PSPs) as
originally envisaged, since the use of hydro-power is a proven, cost-
effective strategy to handle the intermittent and variable power gen-
erated by RE sources (CEA, 2018b).
As an alternative to hydro energy, CEA (2018b) has also re-
commended enhancing gas supplies to the existing gas-starved power
plants for using them as peaking plants due to the high cost of imported
liquefied natural gas. Regulators in European countries with a high
penetration of RE incentivize the provision of gas-based backup capa-
city to guarantee grid stability by means of capacity payments to ensure
the existence of backup power and security of supply (Goldman Sachs,
2016). Such policies can be adopted by India's Central Electricity
Regulatory Commission (CERC) as the contribution of RE to the Grid
increases.
Another option for grid balancing is to deploy grid-scale battery
storage to handle the intermittency of renewable energy. At the price
levels discovered in recent auctions for wind and solar power capacity
additions in India, replacing Diesel Generator (DG) sets with RE power-
cum-storage plants is desirable from an economic and environmental
perspective. In April 2018, GOI-controlled NLC India Limited com-
pleted an auction for a 20 MW solar power project integrated with
8 MWh of storage capacity in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands to replace
the DG sets used to provide power in these remote islands at competi-
tive prices (PV Tech, 2018). In addition, GOI-controlled Solar Energy
Corporation of India (SECI) has recently invited several bids for RE
projects with battery storage (Mercom India, 2018). However, these
projects are still in their infancy since no contracts have been awarded
till now.
Greater penetration of RE into the Grid also imposes additional costs
which have to ultimately borne by the customer either directly or in-
directly thereby affecting the affordability of electricity for consumers.
For example, the greater the dependence of a grid on solar power, the
greater is the distortion of its load curve during the day. As a result, the
DISCOMs are forced to pay capacity (idling) charges to conventional
generators so that they are available to supply power on demand after
sunset. These capacity charges increase the overall power costs for the
DISCOMs and contribute to their losses. The additional costs imposed
by RE (particularly at elevated levels of RE in the Grid) are mainly due
to the following reasons (CEA, 2017b):
• the requirement of keeping standby capacity to supply power on
demand when the wind and/or solar power goes down;
• the necessity of having flexible generation which can ramp up and
down to compensate for variations in RE power generation;
• the impact on CPPs, in terms of reduction of efficiency and opera-
tion at lower Plant Load Factor;
• higher transmission charges on conventional generation to account
of lower capacity utilization factor of wind and solar power, and
• the impact on the States Deviation Settlement Mechanism (DSM)
charges for inter-State flow of power.
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Energy Policy 123 (2018) 325–336
In addition, since 75% of India's electricity is produced by CPPs, the
following components of cycling costs for CPPs must be considered
before concluding on the grid-parity of RE (CEA, 2017b):
• Increase in maintenance, operation (excluding fixed costs), and ca-
pital overhaul expenditures;
• Cost of start-up fuel, auxiliary power, chemicals, and extra man-
power for start-ups;
• Cost of Short-Term Efficiency loss;
• Cost of heat rate changes due to low load and variable load opera-
tion;
• Cost of long-term heat-rate increases (a part of which is not restored
even after overhauling);
• Long-term generation capacity cost increases due to the shortening
of plant equipment life;
• Cost of replacement power due to the increased forced outage.
The eight RE-rich States in India (mainly in the Southern and
Western regions of India) have to bear all these financial implications
even while the RE generated by them is also transmitted to other States
through the Grid. CEA has estimated these financial implications to be
Rs.1.57/kWh of RE in Tamil Nadu, and Rs.1.45/ kWh in Gujarat.
Further, in a bid to enhance the growth of RE projects, GOI has ordered
that no inter-state transmission charges and losses will be levied for
transmission of electricity generated from RE projects commissioned till
March 2022, thereby loading these additional costs onto conventional
sources of power (MNRE, 2018c).
However, current RE tariffs do not reveal any information about the
true costs of renewables because of extensive subsidies (both implicit
and overt) at the Central and State levels as well as due to the strategic
behavior by RE power developers. Grover (2018) has stressed the im-
portance of estimating the system-wide costs of RE by asserting that, ‘to
analyze consumer-end grid parity, one will have to add system costs to the
plant-level costs, and when so examined, solar and wind are far from
achieving grid parity.’ Therefore, India's CERC and the respective State
electricity regulators must undertake techno-economic studies to as-
certain the full system cost (including, any overt and/or covert sub-
sidies as well as costs of stranded assets) of electricity supplied by the
dispatchable and intermittent (non-dispatchable) energy sources at the
point(s) of delivery of electricity to each DISCOM.
4.5. Import dependence and quality assurance
The current statutory guidelines for procurement of power from
grid-connected Solar PV project mandate that only single part tariff or
viability-gap-funding can be used as a bidding parameter during the
mandatory auction process (MOP, 2017b). In order to win contracts in
these auctions, solar developers in India are importing more than 90%
of their requirement of solar Photovoltaic (PV) panels and modules
from China and Malaysia. Specifically, India had imported solar PV
cells worth $3.2 Billion during FY 17 of which, about 88% were im-
ported from China (MNRE, 2018d). Therefore, it is also important to
understand the impact of the climatic conditions in some parts of India
on the durability of the solar PV modules. In this context, studies on
solar (crystalline silicon) PV modules degradation in India carried out
by National Centre for Photovoltaic Research and Education (NCPRE)
at IIT Bombay and National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) demon-
strate that, amongst modules of similar quality, solar PV modules in:
• “Hot” zones are on the average degrading faster than those in the
“Non-Hot” zone;
• Roof-mounted systems are degrading faster than those in ground-
mounted systems (Chattopadhyay et al., 2016; Dubey et al., 2017;
Mahapatra et al., 2017).
These studies highlight the importance of periodic assessment of the
R. Srikanth
solar PV modules installed in India. While high-quality modules will
perform reasonably well even in hot climates, relatively inferior-quality
modules will perform reasonably well in cool climates but fail in hot
climates. Some of the large solar parks in India are in ‘Hot’ zones like
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Rajasthan (NREL, 2017b).
The higher (compared to BIS/IEC standards and/or manufacturers’
specifications) degradation rates of the solar PV modules installed in
the solar power plants located in ‘Hot’ Zones” or on solar rooftops are
likely to affect power generation over the 25-year duration of a PPA,
unless these solar PV modules are replaced at suitable intervals de-
pending on the actual degradation rates of the solar PV modules.
Therefore, assessment of the initial quality, as well as the long-term
performance of solar PV modules through audits at the time of in-
stallation and at regular intervals thereafter is necessary to ensure that
the projections of solar energy required to meet India's growing needs
for RE are satisfied, now and in the future.
In the wake of India being flooded by cheap, imported modules of
questionable quality, MNRE has mandated quality standards for all
solar equipment to minimize the future entry of substandard solar
power equipment into India (NISE, 2017). MNRE has directed all sellers
and manufacturers of major solar equipment to get their products re-
gistered with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The Indian stan-
dards, which are now applicable from April 2018 onwards, encapsulate
all the critical technical requirements in the IEC standards (Business
World, 2017; MNRE, 2018e). Coupled with additional mandates like,
in-country testing, periodic monitoring by BIS, and periodic surveil-
lance, the new regulations are motivated by GOI's concern about sub-
standard equipment which has been flooding the Indian market.
However, domestic solar PV modules are not competitively priced
as compared to imported modules (Bridge to India, 2018). Therefore,
from 30 July 2018 onwards, MOF (2018b) has imposed a safeguard
duty of 25% on the import of solar PV cells for one year, followed by
20% for the next six months and 15% for another six months. This duty
was imposed since these imports were causing ‘serious injury’ to do-
mestic solar panel manufacturers, even though solar power tariffs are
expected to increase as a result. Now that domestic manufacturers have
been given a level playing field, they must ramp up their manufacturing
capacity to meet the solar energy targets set by MNRE.
4.6. Delays in nuclear power plants (NPPs)
While nuclear power has lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions com-
parable to renewables, India's nuclear program has been stymied by the
shortage of fuel as well as delays in construction. After the civil nuclear
cooperation agreement between India and the United States was signed
in 2008, India has been importing uranium fuel from countries like
Canada, France, Kazakhstan, and Russia to meet the requirements of its
NPPs under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards
(DAE, 2018a). Long-term studies conducted in and around NPP sites in
India before and after the establishment of these NPPs have established
that there is negligible change in radioactivity and radiation levels in
the environment due to the operation of NPPs (DAE, 2018b). In addi-
tion, long-term epidemiological surveys for health assessment of em-
ployees (and their families) working in the NPPs have also established
that there are no adverse effects of these NPPs on the people living in
and around the plants (DAE, 2018b).
With the resolution of uranium supplies, GOI has accorded financial
sanction for 12 NPPs with a total capacity of 9000 MW in addition to
nine other NPPs with a total capacity of 6700 MW at various stages of
construction (DAE, 2018c). These 12 additional NPPs are expected to be
commissioned by 2031 while the under-construction NPPs are slated for
commissioning by 2025 (DAE, 2018c). Further, GOI is also engaged in
discussions with the French and American Governments to set up NPPs
with Light Water Reactors (LWRs) at two different sites.
NPPs are capital-intensive projects and have relatively low variable
costs compared to CPPs. Therefore, NPPs in India are operated at steady
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Energy Policy 123 (2018) 325–336
and continuous full-rated power, except when it is necessary to reduce
power or to shut down for maintenance and refueling, or for other
operational or safety reasons. However, the share of electricity from RE
sources in the Southern region of India is projected to increase from the
FY 18 level of 14% to 38–40% in 2022 when the total installed capacity
of solar and wind energy in this region increases from 30 GW in June
2018 to 70 GW in 2022 (MNRE, 2018f, 2018g; MOP, 2018a; NREL,
2017c). NREL (2017c) has therefore projected the need for higher
flexibility in conventional power plants to avoid curtailment of RE
particularly during the daytime in monsoon months. NREL (2017c) has
projected that the Plant Load Factors (PLFs) of CPPs in the Southern
Region will decrease from 64% to 43% when the RE penetration in this
region crosses 38% of the total load. At this low PLF, many CPPs in the
Southern Region will become unviable not only due to the extra costs of
cycling as indicated in subsection 4.4 of this article but also due to the
high landed cost of coal in the CPPs of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
which get their coal from distant locations. Therefore, GOI must not
only enhance and expedite the construction of NPPs in the Southern
Region but also ensure that LWRs installed here are capable of flexible
operation which is prevalent in NPPs abroad (IAEA, 2018). This will
enable NPPs to replace high-cost base load CPPs in the Southern Region
thereby lowering the overall electricity tariffs as well as particulate and
gaseous emissions. This strategy will also help achieve India's targets
under SDG 7 and the NDCs.
Further, in order to realize the ambitious growth projections for
atomic energy in India, India's Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)
must be upgraded to an independent authority under the Atomic
Energy Commission (Indian Express, 2017a). Therefore, GOI is con-
sidering the setting up a Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority in order
to convert the functional independence of the AERB into de jure in-
dependence in order to enhance public confidence regarding the safety
of NPPs in India (DAE, 2018d).
4.7. Access to low-cost global finance
The UNFCCC clearly lays down that the principles of Equity and
Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities
should guide climate actions. These principles have also been em-
bedded in the Paris Agreement, wherein the developed countries have
committed to mobilize $100 billion per year for a Green Climate Fund
(GCF), with the intention to enhance it beyond $100 billion per year by
2025 (MOEFandCC, 2017b). As of 20 April 2018, donor countries have
pledged contributions amounting to only $10.2 billion (GCF, 2018a). It
was only in February 2018 that the GCF sanctioned a loan of $100
million for its first project in India with a capacity of only 250 MW over
five years (GCF, 2018b).
GOI has already committed to infusing the necessary capital into
India's Public Sector Banks (PSBs) which are having the major chunk of
Rs.1.77 Trillion of debt borne by 34 stressed power projects (Lok Sabha,
2018a). Further, enhancing the RE generation capacity from 69 GW in
March 2018 to 175 GW by 2022 requires an investment of about Rs.5–6
Trillion in addition to the investments required to connect the incre-
mental renewable energy sources to the Grid (Lok Sabha, 2018b).
Therefore, accessing adequate funds from the GCF is critical for India to
accelerate its progress towards the achievement of its NDCs as per the
Paris Agreement.
5. Clean coal technologies to enhance environmental compliance
of CPPs
While India continues to pursue its ambitious targets related to
expansion of RE sources, the intermittent nature of solar and wind
energy, inadequate availability of gas, and the endemic delays in con-
structing hydel and nuclear power plants due to issues related to land
acquisition coupled with the energy security provided by CPPs based on
domestic coal, together indicate that coal will continue to play an
R. Srikanth
important role in achieving the goals set out in the PFA program (MOP,
2018d). Between FY 12 and FY 17, India's power sector has expanded
largely on the basis of coal-based capacity additions fueled by domestic
coal supplies (CEA, 2018b).
‘Clean coal' technologies reduce the environmental impact of coal-
power generation by using coal more efficiently or by removing un-
desirable pollutants after combustion. Clean coal technologies include
washing of coal to reduce its ash content, use of more efficient Super-
Critical (SC) or Ultra-Super Critical (USC) technologies, as well as uti-
lization of flue gas clean-up processes like flue gas desulphurization and
denitrification. GOI-controlled Coal India Ltd. (CIL) which produces
84% of India's coal production has planned to set up nine new non-
coking coal washeries with a total capacity of 75 MT by 2020. CIL must
not only expedite these washeries but must also increase its washery
capacity urgently to ensure the supply of coal with an ash content of
less than 34% to all CPPs located at distances exceeding 500 km from
their coal source as per Law (Lok Sabha, 2018e).
GOI has mandated the use of SC technology in CPPs from April 2017
onwards to increase the efficiency of CPPs thereby reducing specific
coal consumption and CO2 emissions (CEA, 2018b). The direct benefit
of increasing the use of SC technology in India is also reflected in the
decline in specific coal consumption of CPPs from 0.69 kg per kWh in
FY 14 to 0.63 kg per kWh in FY 17 (PIB, 2017). NTPC (India's largest
power company) has also adopted USC technology in its Khargone CPP
which will be commissioned next year (MOP, 2018d). The design effi-
ciency of a CPP using USC technology is 1.5% higher than that of a CPP
with SC technology which in turn is 5% more efficient than the sub-
critical technology that powers most CPPs in India (MOP, 2017a,
2018d). Further, use of Advanced Ultra-Super-Critical (AUSC) tech-
nology in CPPs will result in a 20% reduction in CO2 emission at source
combined with a 20% saving in coal consumption compared to a sub-
critical CPP (PIB, 2016b). Construction of India's first AUSC CPP with a
capacity of 800 MW based on indigenous R & D will commence in 2019
(Business Standard, 2018).
Continued growth in particulate and gaseous emissions will ad-
versely affect more people and further exacerbate morbidity and mor-
tality (Greenpeace India, 2017). On 07 December 2015, Ministry of
Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MOEF&CC) notified the
Environment (Protection) Amendment Rules, 2015 (EPAR), aimed at
reducing particulate and gaseous emissions from CPPs while mini-
mizing fresh-water consumption (MOP, 2018f). To comply with EPAR,
most of the existing CPPs in India have to retrofit, high-efficiency
Electrostatic Precipitators (ESPs) to control particulate emission, Flue
Gas Desulphurization (FGD) systems to limit SO2 emissions, and a
combination of combustion and post-combustion technologies to con-
trol NOx emissions (MOP, 2018f). CEA has recently drafted a schedule
for installation of FGDs in 414 CPPs and for modernization of ESPs in
222 CPPs by 2022 (MOP, 2018g). GOI has submitted this schedule to
the Supreme Court of India (SCI) even though the original deadline for
implementation of EPAR has expired on 7 December 2017 (Down-to-
Earth, 2017b; EPCA, 2018a, 2018b; Sethi, 2018). The SCI in its Order
dated 25 July 2018 has criticized GOI for its inaction in this matter by
observing that, ‘on a closer reading of the affidavit filed by the Union of
India, it is clear that the deadline of 2022 cannot be reached by the Union of
India and is completely illusory in nature.’ Further, the SCI has ordered,
‘Since the matter is of concern, we expect the Union of India through the
Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Environment to take the matter ser-
iously since it relates to the health of millions of people in the country’
(Mehta, M.C. versus Union of India and Others, 2018).
In this regard, India has much to learn from China's power sector
which has succeeded in reducing SO2 emissions by promoting the in-
stallation of FGD systems in its CPPs so effectively that, between 2006
and 2010, FGD penetration in Chinese CPPs increased from 30% to 87%
of all CPPs required to be fitted with FGDs (Singh, 2017). A recent study
by NASA indicates that, between 2005 and 2016, total SO2 emissions in
China have declined by 75% while those in India have increased by
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Energy Policy 123 (2018) 325–336
50%, bringing SO2 emissions from India to the same level as China. If
this trend is allowed to continue, India will emit significantly more SO2
than China in the coming years, despite China generating more than
four times the quantum of electrical energy generated in India in 2016
(BP, 2018b; Li Can et al., 2017).
China's success in enhancing the environmental performance of
CPPs holds crucial lessons for India since GOI is struggling to control
the SO2 emissions mandated by the EPAR, even after a notice period of
two years. Rather, it is widely reported that MOP has informed the
MOEF&CC that, ‘19,994 MW capacity is either not having space or is not
interested to install FGD systems (Indian Express, 2017b).’ Such CPPs
must be included in the list of CPPs with a capacity of 48 GW (out of a
total CPP capacity of 197 GW operated by utilities today) which will be
progressively retired before 2027 and replaced with CPPs using more
efficient SC/USC/AUSC technology that can comply with EPAR (MOP,
2018d). For example, GOI-controlled NTPC is replacing its obsolete,
inefficient, and non-compliant CPPs with new CPPs based on SC/USC
technology which will be equipped with environment-friendly features
like, high-efficiency airborne dust control systems and SOx and NOx
emission controls to comply with EPAR, as well as dry-ash disposal and
zero liquid discharge systems (NTPC, 2017).
Since 22 June 2010, GOI has been levying a carbon tax in the name
of ‘Clean Energy Cess’ on all coal and lignite used in India, whether by
domestic production or through imports. The funds collected from this
cess were originally earmarked for the purposes of financing and pro-
moting clean energy initiatives, including ‘projects which result in re-
placing existing technology in energy generation with a more en-
vironmentally sustainable approach,’ through the ‘National Clean Energy
Fund’ (DOE, 2011). This cess was initially levied @ Rs.50 per ton of coal
used in India and has been doubled three times since June 2014 to its
current rate of Rs.400 per ton from 1 March 2016 onwards (DOE, 2018)
after GOI renamed it as ‘Clean Environment Cess.’ Consequently, the
National Clean Energy Fund was also renamed as the National Clean
Energy and Environment Fund (NCEEF) in 2016 (DOE, 2018). MNRE
has utilized most of the Rs.214 billion it has received from the NCEEF to
promote RE capacity additions (Lok Sabha, 2018b).
CERC has held that GOI's imposition of the Clean Energy/
Environment Cess (Cess) constitutes a ‘Change of Law’ in all Power
Purchase Agreements (PPAs) entered into by CPPs under the Electricity
Act (CERC, 2017, 2018). Therefore, CPPs have raised their tariffs to
pass on the cost of this Cess to all power consumers as per the terms of
their PPA. However, in a perverse move, GOI has subsumed this Cess
into the GST Compensation Fund from 1 July 2017 onwards and has
declared that the money received by levying this Cess from this date
onwards will not be used to fund the NCEF (MLJ, 2017; MOF, 2018c).
Given that coal-based power will remain central to India's electricity
supply, it is critical for GOI to reduce the power sector's environmental
footprint by extending concessional finance to CPPs for retrofitting
their plants to comply with EPAR (CSE, 2017; MOP, 2018f). This will
avoid double taxation of Indians to just to enable them to realize their
Fundamental Right to a clean environment since the entire burden of
this Cess is already being passed through to all power consumers in the
form of higher tariffs.
6. Enhancement of carbon sink
As an integral part of its NDCs, GOI has committed to creating an
additional carbon sink of 2.5–3 billion tons of CO2 equivalent through
additional forest and tree cover by 2030. The National Forest Policy
(NFP) aims for 33% forest cover in the country (MOEFandCC, 2015). As
one of the enablers to achieve this goal, Parliament enacted the Com-
pensatory Afforestation Fund Act of 2016 (MLJ, 2016b). However, vast
sums of money totaling to more than Rs.420 billion (‘CAMPA funds’)
paid by user agencies to the State forest departments as compensation
for forest lands diverted by them for non-forest use were lying un-
utilized for years due to the absence of a permanent mechanism to
R. Srikanth
utilize these funds (Economic Times, 2017). A High-Level Committee
(HLC) appointed by GOI has pointed out the need to increase the ca-
pacity of the Forest department in the States to ensure effective utili-
zation of CAMPA funds needed to achieve NFP's prime goal. This will
also help to enhance the capacity of India's carbon sink as per the NDCs
(MOEFandCC, 2014; MNRE, 2017).
7. Conclusions and policy recommendations
While the international community recognizes the progress made by
India towards a cleaner energy mix (IEA, 2017b), the following key
recommendations are proposed for implementation by GOI to accel-
erate India's progress towards a low-carbon economy while simulta-
neously achieving the targets related to SDG 7 which is linked to several
other SDGs.
• GOI must work closely with States to increase offtake of power by
DISCOMs which can be sustained only when the DISCOMs reduce
their ACS-ARR gap to zero as per the trajectory agreed to by each
State even as they extend electrification to the hitherto unelectrified
households. For this to happen, DISCOMs must ramp up the pace of
reduction in their AT & C losses by implementing the operational
improvements envisaged in the ‘UDAY’ scheme.
• MOP must expedite the commissioning of all necessary transmission
and distribution infrastructure (including the Green Energy
Corridors) since these projects have longer gestation periods than
those related to solar or wind energy generation projects.
• GOI must work with DISCOMs to develop and implement a more
user-friendly rooftop solar policy. In particular, GOI must enhance
financial support to off-grid solar and wind energy projects in the
rural and remote areas of India where grid power has either not
reached or is not reliable. Such off-grid power systems will also open
better self-employment opportunities in rural and remote areas
thereby promoting inclusive growth which is key to sustainable
development.
• GOI must consider the provision of Aadhaar-based direct-benefit
subsidies to eligible households for consuming electricity in place of
LPG for cooking while the last-mile distribution system is
strengthened to enable the use of electrical appliances for cooking.
• GOI must incentivize the States to construct balancing facilities in
some of the existing large hydro plants to operate them as PSPs since
the use of PSPs is a proven, cost-effective strategy to handle the
intermittent and variable power generated by RE sources.
• Unlike solar power which has hardly crossed 22% of its 2022 target
for installed capacity (100 GW) by March 2018, wind power has
already exceeded 56% of its 2022 target (60 GW). India has an es-
tablished manufacturing base in wind power equipment unlike in
solar equipment. Therefore, GOI must examine the option of
switching the targets between wind and solar energy while en-
couraging wind-solar hybrid projects as well (Lok Sabha, 2018b;
MNRE, 2018h; NREL, 2017a).
• Due to the multiple reasons explained in this article, coal has to
continue to meet India's base load requirements. The increase in
power generation from existing CPPs due to the incremental power
demand from hitherto unelectrified/under-served rural households
will also reduce the overall cost of generation by spreading fixed
costs of CPPs over the larger quantum of electricity generated.
Therefore, GOI must extend concessional finance to all CPPs iden-
tified by CEA for retrofitting their units to comply with EPAR in a
timely manner.
• CIL must enhance its total washery capacity expeditiously to supply
coal containing less than 34% ash to all CPPs located more than
500 km from their coal source.
•
The current level of stressed power assets is a cause of concern for
India (MOP, 2018g). The ‘twin balance sheet' problem faced by In-
dia's power sector and GOI-controlled banks requires policymakers
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Energy Policy 123 (2018) 325–336
to include the costs of stranded CPPs with other social costs of re-
newables. Therefore, MOP must review its current practice of
funding greenfield TPPs when India is already suffering from
stressed power generation assets, more so when RE sources are ex-
panding rapidly.
• Nuclear power is a safe, environment-friendly technology which is
well-established in India. While NPPs can generate power on a
24 × 7 basis unlike solar and wind energy sources, they are ex-
pected to generate only 5% of the total electricity generated by
utilities in India during FY 27 (MOP, 2018d). GOI must expedite the
construction of NPPs (preferably equipped with LWRs) in time to
replace CPPs saddled with high coal costs and low PLFs in the
Southern Region when the capacity of intermittent renewable en-
ergy progressively increases to 70 GW by 2022 as per GOI's targets.
• The importance of increasing the forest and tree cover in India to
achieve the NDCs cannot be understated. Therefore, GOI must im-
plement the HLC's recommendations and also enhance the capacity
of environmental regulators to make the regulatory processes more
effective.
• As RE generation increases, India's CERC and the respective SERCs
in each State must take steps to ascertain the full system cost of
electricity supplied by the dispatchable and intermittent (non-dis-
patchable) energy sources at the point(s) of delivery of electricity to
each DISCOM. These studies will enable the regulators to take ap-
propriate decisions regarding the optimal energy mix in each State
at various time horizons, so that capacity planning in the complex,
capital-intensive, and critical power sector can be done in an effi-
cient and transparent manner.
• The administrative and financial implications of the ongoing tran-
sition to a low-carbon economy for India must be addressed in a
spirit of cooperative and competitive federalism by the Central and
State Governments (Ghosh et al., 2017).
• Finally, GOI must also give greater thrust on accessing adequate
funds from the GCF as committed in the Paris Agreement to accel-
erate India's progress towards the achievement of its NDCs.
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