Energy analysts say India is unlikely to sign a deal this year with rich countries for a just energy transition, as international funding hinges on a timeline to phase out India’s coal, which is the country’s biggest source of energy. is an “unviable” proposition.
The Group of Seven industrialized nations (G7) along with Norway, Denmark and the European Union believe that a ‘Just Energy Transition Partnership’ (JETP) with India is financially empowered to reduce climate change emissions from power generation Will do
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Similar agreements have been signed with South Africa, Indonesia and Vietnam, but India wants a JTP on its own terms: no phase-out from coal and funding for clean energy expansion in the form of grants, not loans.
Vaibhav Chaturvedi, fellow economist at the Delhi-based Council on On, said, “The developed world is pushing for JETPs because they want coal out. JETPs with South Africa and Indonesia are all about coal. But it won’t work here.” ” Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).
Chaturvedi said in a statement, “Coal is the only stable source of energy in India, which is still a developing economy. India will not talk about coal, but more renewable energy, with the goal of achieving more qualified and demonstrable.” Interview.
Ministry of External Affairs, which is considering JETP proposals this year India presides over the G20Did not respond to queries despite repeated emails and phone calls.
But analysts familiar with India’s stand said talks around the JTP are stuck on the financial terms of funding and India’s resistance to “bullying into partnership”.
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Swati D’Souza, energy analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said India needs money to create more green jobs and train people for them.
“JETP may not be the best model or framework for India at present, as the country will see an increase in energy demand and potential addition of coal capacity,” he added.
mixed signals
In recent months, India has relaxed environmental and public consultations on coal mine expansion, boosted its coal production and has highlighted coal as important for energy security in global climate talks.
But the country still aims to reduce coal from 50% of its energy mix to around 30% by 2030, while building 500 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable capacity.
Simultaneous growth in both coal and renewables points to a messy energy transition for India, including the risk of job losses if some coal mines are abandoned.
Workers unload coal from a supply truck at a yard on the outskirts of Ahmedabad | Photo Credit: Reuters
India’s renewable energy storage capacity is currently still weak and expensive, say analysts, indicating the country will phase out coal only when it is sure the transition will not cause power disruptions.
As the world’s third largest electricity consumer, India’s electricity use has doubled since the turn of the century, with more than 900 million citizens accessing electricity in less than two decades, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). connection received.
Last year, the country faced its worst power crisis in six years as a heat wave swept across the country, increasing energy demand, triggering power cuts, fuel shortages at power plants and heatwaves. Related deaths increased.
India’s coal use will peak between 2030 and 2035 as it tries to meet growing electricity demand, the government said – but in the meantime the country needs to strengthen its renewables grid and infrastructure , for which it seeks JETP funding.
Santosh Patnaik, program coordinator for Climate Action Network South Asia, said, “We still want to have a dialogue with the developed countries… as long as the developed countries listen to us.”
energy aspirations
Bhadla village in Rajasthan got its first power grid connection five years ago. While electricity comes on less than eight hours a day, it has lit up the evenings in a village that previously used kerosene lamps to help its sheep-herding children read at night.
On 4 January, India approved $2.3 billion in funding aimed at developing various areas of the green hydrogen sector, which is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 million metric tons. Image for representation | Photo Credit: AP
“We only want a stable power supply,” said Sadar Khan, head of the village council, who has written to officials that power cuts can last a whole day in some cases.
Analysts say a JETP that only focuses on reducing coal is looking at India’s energy transformation too “narrowly”, losing sight of the rising aspirations of Indians.
He said that there are many new consumers of electricity and they need cheap electricity to improve their economic condition.
Gauri Singh, deputy director-general of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), said households with new electricity connections, many of them in rural areas, now have access to washing machines, refrigerators and laptops.
India’s transformation efforts need to be mindful of these aspirations, he said, adding that the country’s challenge was to move away from fossil fuels and ensure clean and affordable energy for all.
“JETP may not be a comprehensive partnership, but it has to be seen in the context of each country. It is much more complex than shutting down thermal plants,” Ms Singh said in a video call.
lot of money
Last December, the G7 countries announced $15.5 billion to help Vietnam move away from coal, with only a minor part in the form of grants and most of the money in the form of loans.
Analysts say India may strike a major deal with the US and Germany at the forefront of the talks.
RR Rashmi, program director for earth sciences and climate change at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), said India this year has been able to use its position as a G20 leader to drive discussions towards increasing renewable capacity and investing in new technologies. It is possible ,
To meet its target of 500GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, India will need to invest an average of $27.9 billion annually through 2029, research estimates show – but its budget allocation There aren’t enough of that, economists said.
In addition to ramping up renewable energy, India also needs to recognize that the ongoing energy transition will require a fair shift in the workforce.
“This is not just a question of decarbonising our energy sector, but also about exits, coal workers’ compensation and alternative livelihoods,” said Mr. Rashmi from TERI.
“Even if we cannot cut down on coal, we have to prepare to cut down in a phased manner,” he said.
excluded
At least five Indian states are heavily dependent on the country’s coal economy. In the absence of a uniformly equitable transition plan for the country, they risk losing their main revenue source.
Coal workers’ unions say the money is needed to restore land in areas devastated by years of mining, create new jobs in new industries and train in skills needed for jobs in clean energy.
DD Ramanandan, general secretary of the All India Coal Workers Federation, said, “Technical and financial issues just dominate the transition talk, ignoring the social aspect of the transition.”
“Engineers and finance experts are just discussing the transition, not us. We are the biggest stakeholders in this. If coal ends, everything ends for us, but we are sidelined. This is a would be an unjust change.”