Mumbai: It is estimated that about 50 per cent of electricity supply to India will be coming from non-fossil sources like renewable (hydro included) and nuclear energy by the year 2035, as per Vision 2035 report. But the way India is progressing, it would be much quicker, revealed former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar.
Demystifying the international commitments, Kakodkar said all such commitments are in terms of capacity. India is already supplying 30 per cent of its electricity needs from non-fossil fuel sources, stated Kakodkar. “So these things have been cleverly worded.” According a report released last year, 57 per cent of India’s total electricity capacity will come from non-fossil fuel sources by 2027. But, the Paris climate accord target was 40 per cent by 2030.
He added, “By 2030-35, around 7 per cent capacity of nuclear would produce four times more energy compared to equivalent of solar or other renewables.” After analysing the figures, this eminent nuclear scientist said in terms of electricity produced, 7 per cent the capacity of nuclear would mean 50 per cent of the non-fossil sources. The ratio of renewables and nuclear energy by 2030 is estimated to be 50:50 per cent.
Remembering the struggle India went through, to access nuclear energy and technology, Kakodkar said, “Having overcome the technology challenges, the next challenge (then) was to overcome Uranium challenge and that was part of the International politics. We went through this whole altering global dynamics of nuclear dynamics and now this problem is solved. In principle, we should be able go faster and you are seeing that.”
Adding to it, BARC professor said, “The government has suddenly approved 10 units of 700 MWs in one go. It has never happened in the past.” But the next challenge is faster implementation, he added. Apart from focussing on photovoltaics, India needs to explore solar thermal as well, he stressed. “If you give emphasis in the solar thermal, you will actually realise economies on account of storage and in terms of efficiency,” he maintained. He also alleged that India’s solar inclination of using photovoltaics is driven by some vendors’ interest. “There is no conflict between solar and nuclear. But the conflict is whether we are protecting our interest or acting as uninformed customers,” he elaborated.
Source: freepressjournal.in
