Despite the increase in the domestic production of coal and the national push of renewable energies (RE), the burden of India in terms of import of coal has not increased regularly. The quantity of thermal coal imported by India increased by 58% and the money spent increased by 124% between 2013 and 2023, due to the volatile charcoal prices and the damping of the roupie, according to an analysis of the Think Tank Climate Risk Horizons.
The analysis underlines the urgent need to reduce the use of imported coal by accelerating the deployment of RE. The increase in imports is noticeable during the summer when the demand for electricity increases due to the cooling needs.
From April to June 2024, India imported 2.65 million tonnes (MT) of additional thermal coal per month compared to months no in summer. To respond to this point in demand with RE, the country would need around 33 GW of new capacity re, he said.
The deployment of this additional re -capacity would allow India of approximately 7,025 rupes each year on imports of thermal coal during the summer.
“Recent disturbances in international trade highlight the risks associated with the importation of such a proportion of our energy via coal.
A concerted effort to achieve the RE objectives by 2030 (by adding 50 GW Re per year) can reduce imports of coal to zero, with significant savings in Forex and an increase in energy safety. The CRH estimates that by installing 50 GW Re per year, India could completely eliminate imports of thermal coal by the end of 2029, which saves around 5.67 Lakh in Forex between 2025 and 2029.
Between 2025 and 2034, this could lead to cumulative savings of at least RS 13.9 crosses Lakh in Forex. “India will have around 80 GW for the manufacture of solar cells and 175 GW of modules manufacturing capacity by 2026, putting the country in a position to indigenize our energy transition and eliminate imports of coal. However, even if domestic production does not break, a unique import of solar components which then generate power for 25 years is still economically higher than the import of coal on a continuous basis, “said Ashish Fern than risk of risk.
