In 2040, coal to account for two-thirds of power generation in India: Spencer Dale, BP

Talking to ET Now, Spencer Dale, Group Chief Economist, BP, says the share of renewable energy, especially solar energy is going up exponentially and share of coal to come down from three quarters to two-thirds by 2040.

Edited excerpts:

The BP Energy Outlook exploring the forces shaping the global energy transition out to 2040 has talked about the Indian scenario too. Can you explain what it means for India.

What has happened in terms of solar energy particularly in India has been really surprising and around the world people have looked with suitable admiration in terms of the pace at which solar energy has grown and the costs have come down. This is likely to continue going forward.

In one of our main scenarios in the BP Energy Outlook, we have solar energy continuing to grow very rapidly. Renewable energy overall accounts for around a third of all power generation in India by 2040. So, renewable energy is becoming a very central part of the fuel mix within India.

You pointed about solar energy saying that it is like the growth has been exponential but fossil fuels still continue to be a dominant source of power production, especially coal. In that particular scenario, how do you see the demand of coal as well as oil and gas in India and globally?

Over three-quarters of all the power generated within India today is by coal. I expect that share to gradually decline over time helped by that very rapid growth of renewable energy. But even with a very rapid growth of renewable energy, coal is likely to account for around two-thirds of power generation in 2040. So, coal continues to remain a central part of the fuel mix within the Indian economy. In terms of natural gas, we think the demand for natural gas is likely to more than triple over the over the next 25 years.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes