India seeks to triple clean energy capacity to 900 gigawatts by 2035, but major hurdles remain

Detailed summary

With the United Nations climate talks underway, India has set an ambitious goal of installing enough clean power to supply more than 1 billion homes by ...

BENGALURU, India (AP) — With the United Nations climate talks underway, India has set an ambitious goal of installing enough clean power to supply more than 1 billion homes by 2035, and has approved nearly $20 billion in power grid upgrades to ease bottlenecks that prevent some solar and wind energy from reaching consumers.

The world’s most populous country and one of the biggest carbon polluters is also among the fastest to expand clean power. Accelerating the shift away from fossil fuels is a key goal of this year’s climate talks, known as COP31, in Turkey.

India announced the 900-gigawatt goal in late September. It covers nonfossil power sources, including solar, wind, hydropower and nuclear energy. It is nearly twice India’s existing target of 500 gigawatts of clean power by 2030. India’s current clean power capacity of just over 300 gigawatts ranks it third behind China and the United States.

Experts say meeting the target could lower electricity costs, curb coal construction and accelerate the transition to clean energy.

The push comes as India struggles to use all the renewable electricity it can generate because of inadequate transmission infrastructure. The new goal refers to installed generating capacity, rather than the amount of electricity actually produced.

“If the grid doesn’t catch up, then there is no way India can meet this target,” Nikit Abhyankar from the India Energy and Climate Center at the University of California, Berkeley, said. “A robust and innovative transmission grid is an absolute must.”

The government also approved nearly $20 billion in funding for transmission infrastructure and battery storage under its Green Energy Corridor plan.

Economist Ajay Shah of the Mumbai-based XKDR Forum described the transition as the emergence of an Indian “electrostate,” in which electricity increasingly replaces coal and petroleum products.

“So now in India you have two assets — not only do you have cheap labor, you also have cheap energy,” Shah said.

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