Lockdown Slowed Green Energy Push

Subject – Environment

Context – ‘Lockdowns slowed green energy push’ – IEEFA Report

Concept –

The lockdowns slowed renewable energy installations in the country and the pace of such installation is lagging India’s 2022 target, according to a report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a research think tank.
As part of its commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, India has said that it would install 175 gigawatts (GW) of green energy by 2022 and 450 GW by 2030 but only 7 GW of such capacity was added in the financial year 2020-21.
- A gigawatt is 1,000 megawatts
Data from the Central Electricity Authority independently shows that India was to have installed 100 GW of solar energy capacity by March 2023 — 40¬GW rooftop solar and 60-GW ground-mounted utility scale. The country has managed to install only 43.94 GW till July 31, 2021.
The IEEFA’s analysis shows coal stocks hit a new record high of 1,320 lakh tonnes at the end of 2020-21 and exceeded the monthly averages of the previous five years.
Imported coal prices have been rising in the past few months because of resurgent demand after the pandemic — especially in emerging Asian markets such as China and India, but also in Japan, South Korea, Europe and the U.S.

Indian Energy Exchange (IEX)

It is the first and largest energy exchange in India providing a nationwide, automated trading platform for physical delivery of electricity, Renewable Energy Certificates and Energy Saving Certificates.
The exchange platform enables efficient price discovery and increases the accessibility and transparency of the power market in India while also enhancing the speed and efficiency of trade execution.
The Exchange is a publicly listed company with NSE and BSE.
IEX is approved and regulated by Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and has been operating since 27 June 2008.